


Liege Lord and Slave by Heart

by Flozzy_swirls (purbleazaleya)



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cersei and Jaime are not too bitchy here, F/M, M/M, Master/Slave, Stockholm Syndrome, Where Robert does not die and Highgarden is not pardoned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-24
Updated: 2015-08-24
Packaged: 2018-02-18 15:54:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2354054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purbleazaleya/pseuds/Flozzy_swirls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a war torn Westeros, where Highgarden and Sunspear joined forces against the other five kingdoms under Robert's rule.<br/>One of the people they captured while sacking a village in was a very pretty boy, with a feisty attitude and temper to boot. Captured, a slave for the king of Westeros to do with as he liked, Robert gave the boy as a name day gift to his brother Renly. Loras was now a pleasure slave to Renly, but somehow something blossomed between them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just an idea that was going around my head. I wanted to play with the idea of a captured Loras, see how he behaves in that environment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited this because the first version I put up was written between classes when I was rushing and there's a ton of mistakes in it. English is not my native language though, so feel free to point out any mistakes you see :-D

Renly strolled down the gardens, trying to familiarize himself with the landscape around King’s Landing. He had recently been asked to join the King’s council as Master of Laws so here he was, a long way from home and trying to settle in as best as he could. King’s Landing was worlds away from what Strom’s End is, and he found that he missed his homeland with a terrible yearning that only intensified with every single second he remained in King’s Landing.

He'd loved growing up at Storm’s End. The sound of the waves crashing down on Shipbreaker’s Bay and the sound of storms and torrential rain were a constant companion in his life, and without them life seemed so silent. At Storm’s End he had a myriad of favorite places that he would go to, places where he could run to and just leave his problems for a while. There were no such places here at the capital, and where ever he went somebody somehow _just knew_ that he was the king’s brother. Curse his Baratheon looks that deemed he shall be the splitting image of his brother.

Or rather what his brother Robert used to look like a really long time ago. Robert had done a rather good job of whoring and drinking since he had gained the Iron Throne, and all those years of frolicking around had served to turn Robert into one fat, red-faced blubbering idiot who was always drunk and muttering nonsense. Being king but not wanting to do anything that entails with actual ruling of the realm, Robert just leaves everything to the council, a headache that Renly now had the pleasure of partaking in. A week and already he felt like sitting on a ship to Pentos and never returning.

Renly sighed deeply, the familiar throbbing in his head returning. His brother had decided to go to war based on some whim to save Lyanna Stark, his best friend Ned Stark's sister, who was allegedly kidnapped and held against her will. From what he had heard though, he felt that Lyanna loved Rhaegar and had left with him on her own will. Maybe Robert was just delusional that Lyanna was indeed madly in love with him and was waiting for him to rescue her from the clutches of the evil Targaryen prince. Whatever was true was now lost, and the story would always go as the version that Robert had wanted, that he claimed the throne after his beloved was so cruelly taken from him.

More importantly, this was why the realm was at constant war and that the small council had a constant headache. The Targaryens may have fled across the narrow sea, but their supporters remained. Ned Stark helped Robert win the throne and thus automatically the north accepted their new king with no qualms. Tywin Lannister sure took his time, but eventually he sided with Robert and even got that nightmare of his daughter married to Robert. Since then he has continued to contribute the finances needed to sustain Robert’s rather expensive habits.

However, Princess Elia and her children were brutally murdered by the beast called The Mountain to make way for Robert’s taking of the throne. Dorne was not at all pleased, and they decided that they would rather die than to bend the knee to the new king. Not much of a surprise, given that Dorne was the only one of the seven kingdoms that did not surrender to the Targaryens and their dragons. If the Martells did not surrender to deadly dragons they sure as hell would not give up their sovereignty to some king who had married into the family that were responsible for the murder of their precious princess in cold blood.

The Tyrells owed everything to the Targaryens for making them the high lords of Highgarden, so it was only natural that their loyalty remained with them to the very end. Renly disliked them, because of the hunger and agony he had suffered when they laid siege to Storm’s End, but Stannis loathed them with every fiber of his being. When the Tyrells knew that they were named traitors, and tried to justify that they were only following orders and begged to be pardoned, but Stannis had somehow convinced Robert that they should be punished like the traitors they were. He was backed up by Tywin, whi Renly personally felt had an agenda to this. The Tyrells were the only family nearly as wealthy or as powerful as his, and he had seen this as an opportunity to get rid of the competition for good.

Backed into a corner, the Tyrells swore allegiances to the Martells of Dorne instead, backing the war to avenge Princess Elia with their wealth. Westeros has yet to succeed in any of their attempts to take the Arbor and The Reach by force given the huge army they possessed. Thus, the war droned on, a strained peace settling in with little bouts of war where the borders lay. Recently though, a rowdy group of idiots had attacked some of the little villages that were in The Reach but near the border, causing the Tyrells to retaliate with supreme force. None of those idiot soldiers returned, but they did serve to give Robert a purpose to start another round of war. With rumors that the last Targaryen, Danaerys had three dragons and has conquered a few cities across the narrow sea, Robert was all but desperate to make sure that there were no support for her should she decide to return and take the throne that was once her father’s.

And that meant that he had to conquer The Reach and Dorne.

Renly sighed and massaged his temples, feeling the usual throb in his head again. He sometimes felt that he had idiots for brothers. Robert let his temper and desires overtake his brain and Stannis just saw everything in line with duty. The way he had punished the Onion Knight was testament to that. Who the hell rewards a man with knighthood for helping smuggle food in during a siege then cut off his fingers because of the crime of smuggling? Stannis Baratheon and his love of law and order, it seemed. If only they had pardoned Mace Tyrell, they would be the one with The Reach’s wealth and power to back them instead of Dorne. It would have been easier then to have just crush Dorne, the power of six kingdoms against a lone desert country.

Now Westerosi soldiers were rounding up the people of The Reach that were captured and making them slaves, which Renly felt was the most degrading thing ever. Those young boys who were captured may not have even held a sword in their lives, forced to fight just so that they can defend their village from being pillaged. The men were forced into labor and the women treated as whores. If anything, Renly felt shame of being associated to a royal family that encouraged such barbaric things.

He heard the pitter patter of feet and a voice calling out his name. Turning around to see his squire, Renly narrowed his eyes. His squire running after him when he left explicit instructions to be left alone could only mean one thing. His brother, the king has called him. “Can a man have some time?” Renly huffed when his squire reached him. The boy smiled sheepishly then confirmed Renly’s suspicion. “The king has summoned you, milord. Says he has something for you.”

Curious, Renly sought his mare and rode back to the castle. His name day was a week ago and Robert already gave him his lavish gift for the year (a beautiful armor encrusted with jewels) along with a very fancy feast, so Renly was wondering just what else his brother had in store for him. Reaching the castle, he saw Stannis standing at the stables, clearly waiting for him. “Robert has an extra gift for you”, Stannis stated blankly, though his expression showed that he disagreed with whatever this gift was. Renly raised an eyebrow as he handed the reins of his mare over to the stable hands. Stannis grinded his teeth and just made for Renly to follow him.

They walked silently to the king’s chambers, Renly feeling the air of unpleasantness radiating off Stannis like a stench that would not go away. Whatever this gift was, Renly had a feeling that Stannis objected greatly to it, and that normally meant that it went against his high moral ground.  This notion filled Renly’s stomach with dread and yet he was oddly curious. He would not have to wait long though, for they have reached the doors that led to the kings chambers.

Jaime Lannister, one of the kingsguard opened the door and led them in. As usual, Robert was already drunk even though it was not yet mid-day, his laughter booming through his solar when he saw Renly approaching. Stannis had opted to leave at the doors to the kings chambers. “My dear brother! I have found the perfect give for you, you should enjoy him so very much!” Renly was a little bewildered. “A gift? A him?”

Renly was rather perverse in his desires, meaning that he coveted the touch of other men rather than women’s. Robert had accepted it with a laugh, saying that though the condition was rare, but it was not unheard of. Stannis though, had been disgusted with it, claiming that it was unnatural and against the gods' will. It was now the worse kept secret at court and due to Renly’s handsome looks, many young boys had been willing to be bedded by him. He was happy, sated mostly and without lack of willing people to fuck, so he didn’t need a whore to please him.

“Robert, I think that I don’t need a whore to keep me company”, Renly laughed, but stopped when Robert just shook his head. “You’ve not gotten me a whore?” Renly asked, unable to think of any other ways the gift could be a ‘him’.

“Oh no, this is even better than a whore, Renly.” Robert than proceeded to tell him of how in the new group of people they captured from The Reach, there had been a pretty boy. The boy here it seemed was helping the villagers by treating the sick. Nevertheless, given that the boy was a beautiful creature, some of the soldiers had tried to bed him. It was then it seemed, that the boy showed that he was indeed stronger than he looked, and nearly tore out the eyes of the knight that had tried to take him.

The boy, Robert told him, was a slip of a thing and looked delicate, but he was like a fiery wild cat that refused to be tamed. It seemed that the other villagers would rather die than to let the knights take the boy and attempted to protect him, resulting in a lot of struggling that caused a lot of noise. It seemed that the leader of the city guard had gone to see the ruckus that was going on when he saw the boy and thought that only the king’s brother would deserve to bed a boy so fine. Since the knights had beat him up good, they got the maester to heal him and make him presentable.

“He’s the perfect gift for you, Renly. He’s so beautiful, he’ll be a delight to fuck. And he’s so young I’m sure that nobody has had him too”, Robert laughed as he poured himself more wine. Ser Jaime looked a little shamed but he approached Renly and added in a quiet voice, “I think the boy is high born. He is obviously trained in basic healing, so I’m sure that he can read. There was a point in the struggle where he got hold of a sword and the way he handled it, Renly…the way he fought back, it seems that he has had proper training too. He was good, very good in fact. Even against a horde of gold cloaks, he held his own but nobody can fight against a whole band of guards and win. Be careful not to let him near any weapons, Renly. He’s shown that he would try and kill you before you can touch him.”  Renly barely had time to register what Jaime had told him on the way back to his own rooms. The boy was waiting for him there, it seems.

True enough, when he entered his chambers he was greeted by the sight of a few gold cloaks guarding a boy. “We’ve disciplined him enough for you, milord. Wont dare to pull the stunt he did in the dungeons, I guess.” Renly nodded as another of the guards laughed. “We’ll take our leave now. Have fun, milord. He’s a feisty one”, Renly heard them say as they left his chambers.

Renly took his first good look at the boy in front of him. He was delicate in frame, a lithe body with small shoulders that seemed fragile. He had fair smooth skin, but when Renly got to his face, he felt his breath left him. The boy was so beautiful, he seemed like a heavenly creature. His honey brown curls glowed golden in the sun, framing a delicate face. He had plump, pouty pink lips, rosy cheeks and eyes of molten gold with long, curly eyelashes. Renly knew now why the knights had been so desperate to bed him, no sane person could not resist that. But the boy looked very young too, he was thirteen maybe, fifteen at most.  

The boy looked like he would endure all the seven hells than to be there, and as Renly took a step towards him, the boy went to the corner of the room and glared at him from there. Renly felt his headache coming again. The boy’s glare was so intense, full of hate and anger that Renly was sure that he will be having a rather hard time handling this one. He was determined to fight Renly all the way, it seemed. Renly sighed then sat at the edge of the bed, eyes trained on the little boy. After a few moments though, it occurred to Renly that he should ask for the boy’s name, given that the boy was now his pleasure slave and will be locked here like a prisoner, Renly would see a lot of him.

“What is your name?” Renly asked, and the boy just narrowed his eyes in suspicion. After a few awkward moments, Renly said, “My name is Renly Baratheon. See, I’ve told you mine, so tell me yours.”

The boy scoffed however. “I already knew who you are, they talked about how you were going bend me over an awful lot”, he replied scathingly. Renly just stared at him, a haughty boy who refused to let the whole situation get the better of him. “Fine then”, Renly relented, and he saw the boy’s face become confused, “If you will not tell me your name, I shall just give you one.” The boy just blinked, surprised at the turn of events. Renly snapped his fingers as an idea came to him. “I know, since you look so much like a cat, I shall call you my Kitten! So until you tell me your actual name, I will call you Kittens. Well, you can call me milord of course”, Renly said causing the boy to hiss angrily.

“I am not a cat! I am not little, not a pretty boy who looks like a maid, and I am not some delicate plaything! I am a warrior, I can main and kill so you would do well to _fear_ me!” the boy spat angrily. As serious as the boy was though, with his adorable curls he didn't look intimidating at all, so the warning only made Renly laugh. “Well then, but warriors do need to eat too, don’t they? Since they have already brought up my lunch, and it seems enough for two, would you care to join me?”

The boy just remained where he was though, so Renly just shrugged and ate his lunch. The boy got tired and sat down eventually, but he didn’t move from his corner. Renly left some food on a plate for him if he decided to eat, but he didn’t move nor did he say anything at all. Renly sifted through his work as he waited for the boy's resolve to wear down a little until nightfall, when he had to admire the boy's stubbornness. “Kittens, I’m leaving to have dinner at the halls. Do you want anything? I’ll have a serving girl bring it up for you”, Renly offered but the boy just ignored him. Figuring that the boy’s hunger will win over his stubbornness soon, Renly left his chambers wearily. The boy could not escape, not with his usual guards guarding his chambers.

Renly felt sorry for the boy, actually. All he had been doing was trying to help when the soldiers captured him. In fact, he was in a village in The Reach, where he thought he was safe. To be kidnapped from your home, bullied by knights and made a pleasure slave must not be a pleasant experience at all. Renly dined with Ser Barriston and went over a few details about the night’s watch, as was required of him as Master of Laws.

When it was done, he was anxious to return to his chambers to see what had happened to his Kittens. He was rather afraid that the boy would harm himself in his absence. He was relieved when he saw that Kittens was still at his corner, albeit exhaustion must have taken over, for the boy was sound asleep. Smiling, Renly approached him and brushed the curls away from his face. He looked angelic when he slept, no trace of haughtiness on his face. Being as gentle as he could as to not wake the boy, Renly scooped him up in his arms and carried him to his bed, tucking him in.

After going about his usual before sleep routine, Renly settled in to sleep beside the boy, noting as he closed his eyes that the boy really must have been out of it for he didn’t stir at all. It was in the middle of the night that Renly was woken up when somebody shook him. “Wake up!” the voice said softly and as Renly opened his eyes, he saw the boy, Kittens, in front of him. “Yes, Kittens?” Renly asked sleepily, yawning and belatedly covering his mouth with his hand. The boy looked at his hands in his lap. “You let me sleep in your bed?” he asked quietly, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

Renly frowned. “Yeah, I couldn’t just leave you to sleep on the floor, could I?”

“And you won’t force me to…” the boy trailed off, but Renly understood immediately. He smiled. “Well, I will not lie to you, I definitely will bed you. You looking like that and being mine by right is just too good for me to pass up”, Renly said nonchalantly and the boy’s eyes widened at that. “But”, Renly propped himself up on his elbows, “I will never hurt you or mistreat you. I promise I’ll take care of you if you be a good boy to me.”

“You won’t hurt me?” the boy asked, his voice quiet. Renly shook his head. “No’, he whispered, and the boy nodded. “Well, if you’re done interrogating me for tonight, come back to bed and sleep. I promise I won’t touch you yet”, Renly said as he went back under the covers and resumed his sleep. A little while later, he felt the boy shuffle under the blankets beside him.  

Renly was about to fall asleep when he heard it. “Loras”, he whispered into the dark, so soft that Renly thought he may be dreaming it. “My name is Loras.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments encourage me a lot, so tell me if you liked it or if you hated it!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Renly reflects on the amusing stunts that Loras pulls.

The maester was crouched over Loras’ unconscious form, inspecting a wound at the back of his head. Renly stood nearby biting on his nails anxiously while his nephew, Prince Tommen paced the room. “Is he alright?” Tommen asked anxiously, his nerves clearly starting to get to him. The maester was taking an awfully long time looking at Loras, and with every passing moment both Renly and Tommen were getting more and more afraid that the maester would tell them that Loras was seriously injured.

“He’s alright, lord Renly, just a wound that needs a few stitches. He’ll be as right as rain when he awakes”, the maester told Renly in a confident voice without even looking up. “Thank the gods! I was starting to think that you would be telling me that something has gone awfully wrong and he may lose his memory or become stupid or…something”, Renly breathed, relief flooding his mind.

“He’s a troublesome one, now is he?” the maester chuckled as he straightened his old back and smoothed his robes over.

“You have no idea”, Renly sighed. Loras’ antics were a never ending source of amusement for Renly but he also found that the boy was a mighty challenge to handle. For starters, he had never met anybody as remotely as stubborn as the boy could be. When Loras had deigned to tell him his name, he had thought that the boy may open up to him some more. It was a misperception of his.

Renly tried and tried, but the boy would not grace him with any more information about himself. Renly had tried with the basics, like how old he was and where he came from. Loras just spat that it was none of Renly’s business and lifted his chin up in defiance. While it was funny to see that even when enslaved the boy had not lost any of his pride and arrogance, it soon became a tad bit annoying.

The first thing Renly figured out about the boy was that Loras’ temper was quick to rise. Not only was it quick to rise, when roused his anger burned through him for hours at end, making him scowl and snap bitterly at anything and everything. Renly guessed that Loras was still bitter and a little scared about being made a slave, and as such has decided to cope with it by directing his fury at Renly.

Well, Renly had to admit that he enjoyed driving the kid up the wall, so part of Loras’ frequent anger bursts were instigated by him in the first place. He could not help himself, for Loras was a creature that did not take any criticism well at all and thus easy to wound up. In fact Renly enjoyed watching Loras when he was angry as the gold flecks in his eyes seem to get brighter, making his eyes seem so fiery and alive. His cheeks would then turn a rosy hue that made his face look just too adorable.

The second thing that Renly learned about Loras was that the boy was infuriatingly stubborn. The day after Loras had arrived, when Renly had been awakened at the crack of dawn by his squire he was fully expecting to find Loras where he had put him the night before, on his bed beside him. However the space beside him was cold and empty when he awoke and upon further inspection, he found that Loras had woken up at night and decided to continue sleeping on the cold hard ground beside his bed.

Renly tried to get the boy to sleep on the bed, but Loras refused, saying that he was not stupid as to come to Renly’s bed willingly. After he slept on the floor the second night, Renly had some servants put some lush furs and pillows on the ground as to be a makeshift bed for the boy. Loras had watched silently as the serving girls prepared his ‘bed’ for some time before asking Renly why he even bothered. Renly remembered the low tone in which he had asked him, as he looked down at his feet. “Why do you care if I am comfortable when I sleep? I’m just a slave, you can lock me in a cell to sleep if you wanted.”

Renly had placed his index finger on Loras’ chin and lifted it up gently so that he could look into his bright eyes. “Now, did you think I was so cruel a person?” Renly asked him, putting on an affronted tone. Loras just gazed back at him, his eyes exceptionally soft. The moment had been a calm, peaceful one, and Renly thought that he did see something like appreciation and fear flicker through Loras’ eyes, but it was gone in a second.

Loras just swatted his hand away and huffed indignantly. “I don’t _need_ your sympathy”, he whispered bitterly before resuming his task of scrubbing the floor. Renly recalled being amazed by how Loras had managed to be graceful and elegant even while scrubbing the floor on his hands and knees. The answer was simple Renly guessed, that was Loras was simply one of those people who were so effortlessly beautiful that nothing could make him look remotely plain.

After dealing with Loras’ persistent arguments that he will sleep on the floor, Renly was faced with a new challenge the second morning he spent with Loras. As with the day before, Loras refused to eat anything at all, instead he just went back to scrubbing the floor while occasionally looking up to glare daggers at Renly.

Refusing to worry over what he thought was a childish display of stubbornness, Renly just went over to Loras to rile him up by patting his head gently. Loras had given him a look of pure venom then, making Renly laugh before leaving to attend to his duties for the day. He had thought that maybe Loras just refused to dine with him as a means to avoid being near his ‘repulsive’ presence, finding the whole thing funny. He was no longer laughing though, when a member of his household sought him out somewhere near mid-day and told him that Loras had collapsed in his chambers.

Surprised and worried, Renly had rushed back to his chambers to see one of his household guards, Ser Guyard dabbing Loras’ face with a wet towel. “What happened?” Renly asked as he rushed to Loras’ side, a little breathless from running up the stairs. Loras looked pale and weak and when Renly touched his cheek, he noticed that Loras was burning with a fever. “What’s wrong with him? When and how did he faint?” Renly looked around at the gaggle of people surrounding him, hoping that somebody could help enlighten him.

The chamber maids had glanced worriedly at Loras before one told Renly that she had heard rumors Loras had refused to eat or drink anything since he was told that he was to be Renly’s slave about five days ago. Renly cursed himself for misinterpreting the boy’s stubbornness as a simple case of petty childishness. Ser Guyard carefully carried the boy to the bed and began fanning him with a spare piece of parchment he found on the bedside table. A worried looking chamber maid folded a wet towel and placed it on Loras’ forehead before parting Loras’ lips and dripping some water into his mouth using a spoon.

Loras soon came to, and he looked a little bewildered when he saw the people around him. “What…why…” he said feebly as he tried to wake up, but Renly pushed him back down gently. “You fainted because you have not been eating. Here, drink some milk”, Renly said as he took a cup of milk a maid passed him and brought it to Loras’ lips. Loras simply turned his face away, refusing to drink the milk with a feeble “I don’t want it.”

“You need to eat and drink, you can’t go on like this!” a maid protested, and several others joined her to try and coax Loras to drink the milk. “I don’t want the milk. I don’t _feel_ like doing anything at all”, Loras whispered, causing a maid to begin protesting behind Renly. Renly felt the blood rush to his head  and before he had known it, he had smacked Loras very hard across the face.

Loras looked as surprised as Renly felt when he realized that he had struck the boy. “Eating is not something you do when you fancy doing so, you stupid boy! It’s something you have to do to survive. Or don’t tell me that since you can’t see a way to wiggle out of this, you’re going to starve to death”, Renly bristled, and Loras just averted his eyes in shame. “No, it’s just…” Loras trailed off, his eyes becoming glassy as moisture formed on it and a faraway look came onto the boy’s face, as though he was lost in memories.

A thought hit Renly suddenly. “I think he’s thinking of home, milord”, a maid whispered his inner thoughts to him. Renly looked closely at Loras. He seemed to have an air of a boy that was well taken care of, he was of a healthy weight, his hair lustrous and well groomed. He may be a boy that had come from a family with loving parents and siblings where they bantered and laughed together. He could very well be one of the younger children in the family, which would explain his haughtiness; he had older siblings that pampered him and let him get away with almost anything.

He briefly wondered if Loras’ family had been in the same village where he was captured. Maybe Loras was worried about what had happened to his family, was wondering if they escaped or if they were captured too and was being tortured with hard manual labor somewhere. Maybe he was worried that his family were lying dead somewhere.

Suddenly Renly felt that he understood why Loras was so angry with the whole situation.

Robert Baratheon was the usurper, the one who began this war and the one who Loras saw as the cause of his misery. Being from The Reach, he had most probably loathed Robert his whole life, no doubt fed all kinds of stories about what a despicable person he was. And now he had been told that he had to spread his legs open so that Robert’s younger brother may use his body in any way that pleases him. There was no doubt that the thought was infuriating for the boy, causing him to despair his fate.

Renly looked at the boy, the shame coloring his cheeks as he looked away from the little crowd in the room. Loras was a prideful creature, he was probably feeling tormented by the fact that he had collapsed like a weakling and was now being fussed upon by the very one he hated.

Renly sighed heavily and dismissed all the chamber maids except for the one who had been tending to Loras with the wet towel in the hopes of getting Loras more comfortable. Renly began stroking Loras’ hair gently and smiled when Loras glanced back at him warily. “I know you will not accept anything I feed you with my hands. But I don’t want you to get ill and if you don’t eat, you will fall terribly ill. So I’ll leave…”, Renly gestured at the maid, “…this kind lady here to tend to you. She will make sure that you eat and bathe while I’m away. So technically it is she helping you and not me.”

Loras just shuffled his face further into the pillow. “Why, it’s no fun to fuck an ill person, is it? Is that why you want me healthy?” Loras mumbled into the pillow. Even though his voice was muffled, Renly could hear the pain in his voice. He no doubt thought that he was being kept pretty so that his master may have more pleasure when ravishing his body.

“Well actually no…”, Renly started as he pulled the covers up to tuck Loras in, “…I just don’t want a dead boy hanging on my conscience. I refuse to let you kill yourself and make me look like I tortured you to death. So if you want to escape, I suggest you find another way about it, one which does not paint me in a bad picture.” Loras just clutched at the covers, covering himself as though he wanted to hide behind it forever.

Renly patted his head gently. “I don’t know what you think of me, but I am not a cruel person and neither do I want to mistreat you just because you’re from The Reach. I told you that if you stay quietly, I will take care of you and that’s because I appreciate you not making life harder for me, and not because I want a better fuck.” Loras nodded before he closed his eyes to sleep. Renly closed the curtains around his bed before addressing the maid, asking her her name.

“It’s Wynna, milord”, she said gently and she looked flattered that her lord choose her to stay rather than the others. “Well Wynna, could you do me a great favor and make sure that Loras there eats a little and baths before dusk? He’s a little down so it’ll do him well to talk to somebody too.” Wynna nodded heartily and glanced back at the bed, Loras hidden behind the dark green curtains around it.

Renly continued his duties for the day quickly, wanting them out of the way. Even with his best efforts though, he only finished all his letters and official business after sundown, and it was already dark when he rushed up the stairs to his quarters. He could breathe easier when he saw that Loras was asleep on his furs on the floor, and upon bending down to peer at him, he saw that Loras’ curls were clean.

Wynna came out of the solar just as he stood up from his inspection of Loras. “Was he much trouble, Wynna?” he asked, curious to know Loras’ treatment of anybody else that was not him. Wynna smiled and looked at Loras’ sleeping form fondly. She then informed Renly that while Loras sulked and tried to protest, he ate his meals and bathed without much of a fight.

Renly thanked Wynna and dismissed her for the night. As Renly ate his dinner, he wondered who Loras actually was. He remembered Ser Jaime’s words and he found that he arrived at the same conclusion as Jaime did. With all that haughtiness and disregard for authority Loras was most probably a high born child. He wondered why Loras went to a poverty ridden village in the first place. If he was a high born there was no way he would have been allowed there without guards and escorts.

Unless if he had run away from home.

That line of thought shocked Renly, but he found that he could not find any other plausible reasons as to why a high born would be alone in a place where pillaging were rife. Renly went to bed with a thousand thoughts that night, wondering if Loras would ever trust him enough to tell him how he ended up captured in the first place.

The two days after that went smoothly, meaning that other than Loras’ angry screams at Renly the atmosphere had been remotely peaceful. As long as Renly was not in the same room with him, it seems that Loras behaved rationally. It was either that or the fact that Wynna handled errant children a thousand times better than Renly ever could. Wynna was now officially Loras’ babysitter, as Renly still didn’t trust him on his own.

It seemed that Renly was right about not trusting Loras, for Loras finally showed he could be cunning when he wanted to be. Renly was discussing some state matters with Littlefinger when Wynna had come bursting into his office with Ser Meryn trailing behind, muttering “I’m so sorry milord” over and over again in hysterics.

After she had downed a glass of water and calmed down a little, she and Ser Meryn told Renly a story that amused him to no end. It seems that Loras had been all innocent smiles this morning and had asked Wynna to get him some pastries from the kitchen because he was having a craving for sweet things. Somehow, Loras managed to sneak pass the guards at Renly’s quarters and make a break for it.

Unfortunately for the boy, he was not familiar with the castle grounds and ended up walking right into the Royal Family’s quarters. Mrycella had had a fright and screamed when she saw Loras, causing Ser Meryn burst in to see Loras already trying to run away. “Damm…” Renly sighed as he put his face in his hands. Littlefinger’s eyebrows were raised high up and he looked genuinely surprised. “What happened then? I assume you got him”, Renly mumbled into his hand.

Ser Meryn grimaced before he said slowly, “Well, we ran after him and cornered him but…” Renly looked up at Ser Meryn, prompting him to go on. The knight took in a deep breath. “He fought back hard and I had no choice but to hit him in the back of his head to knock him out.”

“And where is he now?” Renly asked in an amused tone. “With Prince Tommen in your chambers, lord Renly. Apparently Prince Tommen’s knows Loras and so the prince has refused to leave his side. We have called for a maester so one should be there any moment now”, Ser Meryn explained in a low, even voice. All four of them had an expression of wonder on their faces as they no doubt tried to figure out how a little boy managed to sneak past the guards around the castle.

Littlefinger was the first to recover and he stood up with a smirk. “Well, it seems that I have to consult my spies, because I just _need_ to know who this little minx really is”, he said excitedly and walked away with vigor in his steps.

So that was how Renly found himself in this situation, worried half to death about a boy called Loras while his nephew Tommen kept pacing the room. It did not help either that when he came in, he saw a pile of cotton wool drenched with fresh red blood beside Loras with the old maester still soaking up more blood that was flowing from the back of Loras’ head.

He had been so sure that given the amount of blood flowing Loras’s skull was cracked or something but the maester reassured him that all the wound needed was stitches, and that head wounds tend to bleed a lot more than they had any right to. The maester left after instructing Renly to bring Loras to him in a day or two, and to Renly’s surprise even Queen Cersei had come to see Loras and fetch Tommen.

“I just wanted to see who Tommen was so worried about. Loras helped Tommen find one of his kittens that ran away”, Cersei said nonchalantly. Renly found that he was genuinely shocked at that, for Loras didn’t seem to be the friendly sort or a kitten finder as Tommen claimed that he was.

Loras still didn’t wake up some time later and Cersei soon persuaded Tommen to leave, saying that Loras would be in pain when he woke and needed rest. Tommen left reluctantly after Cersei promised that they would return the next day where he would read a story to Loras.

It was much in the evening by the time that Loras finally roused, wincing and holding his head. “What happened to me?” he croaked as he tried to sit up. “I really didn’t think that you would take my jibe at escaping so seriously”, Renly laughed from where he was sat reading letters. He had to admire Loras’ bravery and determination though, not many would dare to try and escape from a heavily guarded castle.

Loras just closed his eyes and lay back down against the pillows as Renly woke up from his chair to approach him. “Can I ask you something though?” “Hmm-mm”, Loras hummed without opening his eyes. “Just how did you become Tommen’s new best friend?”

Loras’ eyes flew open at that, and he stared at Renly with a frown. “What, are you telling me that if you stumbled across an eight year old crying as he searched for his pet that you would have the heart to leave him?” Renly shook his head, he guessed not. “Anyways, I didn’t know he was the prince, and that helping him would get me caught. I regret doing that now”, Loras half yawned as he shuffled off the bed and onto the furs on the floor.

Renly was walking to his solar when he heard Loras say behind him, “You know I will not give up, right? I will find my way home no matter what you or your battalions of guards decide to do to stop me.” Renly looked back at him and just gave a little laugh. “And try all you want, but I’m not letting what’s mine just sneak off under my nose. No matter what _you_ decide to do about it.” With that, Renly just left Loras to bristle silently in his bed.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked this! Tell me what you think and if there are any mistakes, feel free to point them out :-D


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! Hope you enjoy and that it was worth the wait

“Then Ser Ponce realized that Miss Boots had been kidnapped by the evil Tom Tom and that he had to save his fair maiden from the villainous grasp of the evil king cat!” Tommen said in a rush of words, mock horror on his face. Loras feigned a gasp and covered his mouth with his hand. “Oh dear, I wonder what will happen to poor little Miss Boots…” Loras mumbled out, his voice laced with slight humor.

Sighing, Renly glanced at Jaime who was sitting on a bench beside him and sporting a smirk. Loras was doing a pretty good job at fooling Tommen into thinking that he was the least bit interested in the stories that Tommen had managed to conjure up in his head regarding his kittens and the adventures they had.

“Gods I wonder how the hell Loras deals with this crap every day”, Jaime moaned. Renly just threw Jaime a withering look. “What?” Jaime asked in that smug tone of his, “You’re not the only one suffering through this, you know. Cersei has insisted that I babysit Tommen lest the slave decided to put any ideas in the young prince’s head, or even worse, use him as leverage to escape.”

Renly looked on as Tommen flew his hands around while narrating to Loras the story of his kittens. “It’s a huge possibility, given how determined Loras is to go back home. I’m surprised Cersei even allows Tommen to spend so much time with Loras.”

Jaime winced at that. “It’s because the maester recently told Cersei that he was worried about Tommen. Said that Tommen had no friends and was starting to imagine stuff and all….” Jaime trailed off. “Anyways, Cersei said that there was no way that pretty boy there was going to succeed in anything funny because if he tries, I’m supposed to strike him down.”

“Well, you _are_ a Kingsguard. That’s your job”, Renly said plainly.

After a few moments of near silence as Tommen narrated his story to Loras, Jaime snapped his fingers as he remembered something. “Ah…how did the book thing go? Did he tear and burn it or did he just hit your head with it?”

Renly groaned as he recalled _exactly_ which book Jaime was referring to. After two whole weeks of seeing Loras being around his room and driving him mad with desire, Renly decided that the ice breaking phase needed to end soon.

The only problem with that was given the way Loras glared at him when he caught him staring at his bum, Renly guessed that Loras was still quite reluctant to give Renly what he wanted.

Figuring that he was not a psycho and raping a young boy was definitely not in his list of things he enjoyed, Renly wondered how he was to calm Loras down enough to not struggle and get himself hurt, for Renly was absolutely sure that the boy would not lay down willingly.

While he racked his brains looking for any brilliant ideas, he could not come up with any. He refused to ask anybody about this, because he knew that he would be told that Loras was for his pleasure and he just do what he pleased with his slaves.

There was a tedious small council meeting a few days earlier about the war, where they argued and bickered like little children. Except Robert of course, who was out drinking and whoring somewhere while the small council made every important decision pertaining to the governing of the realm.

Ser Barriston, ever the old soul, suggested going over tomes and books on war strategies to get inspiration on devising their new strategies. While Lord Baelish had laughed and asked exactly who had the time to go over so many books, a spark of an idea had emerged in Renly’s head.

He was reminded of a deceptively plain looking book he came across in the archive and decided to keep some time back, one that told stories of various secret acts and pleasures that two men can achieve together.

As he remembered it, the book had pretty clear illustrations to go with the explanations that would help Loras know what to expect too. The moment the small council meeting had been adjourned due to excessive bickering, Renly had hurried over to his office and dug through his stash of books.

After what felt like forever, Renly found the battered old book at the bottom of some old stash of romance books he had. Smiling like a loon, Renly decided that he would just leave the book on Loras’ bed for him to read in the morning.

When the next morning came and Loras was occupied with his task of polishing each and every one of Renly’s jewelry to a shine (which is the first time that Renly ever realized what a ridiculous amount of accessories he seems to have), Renly placed the book on the furs near Loras’ pillow, hoping that the boy will decided to have a lie in before his return in the evening.

Renly went through his day agitated on how Loras would take to seeing such an explicit book conveniently left behind for his reading pleasure. Renly was having dinner with Robert, his mind wandering off from Robert’s incessant ramblings when an image of Loras hitting him over the head with the very thick book came into his mind’s eye.

Renly gave an involuntary shudder as he imagined the pain, and though Robert was too self-absorbed in his stories of whores to notice, Jaime did. He narrowed his eyes then smirked at Renly, shaking his head. Later, when Jaime had been relieved of his duties and Ser Merryn took over, Jaime followed Renly out of the King’s chambers, hounding him about the shudder.

While Jaime had laughed at first, he looked pensive later on, walking beside Renly and chewing on his bottom lip as though deep in thought. “The boy is intelligent, Renly, and I’m sure that he’s fully aware of what’s going to happen to him if he dares resist you…” Jaime snorted when Renly raised his eyebrow, “Come on! He knows he’ll have no chance in fighting you off, given that he’s such a small lithe little thing. Even if he does manage to land a blow or two on you, I dare say the repercussions of hitting the king’s brother is somewhat worse that just laying on you back and taking it.”

Jaime left Renly to walk up to his quarters in peace and Renly poured over what Jaime had said. Definitely Loras didn’t think that he could get away any longer? He was lucky that Renly still didn’t bed him after two weeks, letting him get comfy in the place and settle down a little before doing the deed.

If it had been anyone else, they’d have raped Loras thousands of times over by now, given his beautiful looks and body. Renly sighed and massaged his temples. Renly liked to think of himself as a cultured, civil lord, not some barbarian with no hold over his desires.

Some little part in Renly’s mind was even contemplating letting Loras go, for he felt pity for the boy. Renly quickly dismissed the idea. The boy was his and he shall keep him safe. It was just a little extra effort on his part, but he didn’t want to cause the boy any more despair than he was already in.

Reaching his chambers, Renly nodded to his guards before he opened the doors quietly and stepped in. As he passed by his bed, he saw that the book was gone from the pillow where he placed it. Renly grinned. Good, it means that Loras must have skimmed through it during the day.

It was already late quite late in the evening so Renly was surprised to see that Loras was sat at the table he used as a dining table, only now having his dinner. “Hello”, Renly mumbled softly as he sat beside the boy at the small table in the corner of his room. Loras just mumbled something incomprehensible at him before continuing his meal.

Renly just watched the boy as he ate his meal. Loras looked even more beautiful in candle light, his curls shining, but his eyes were simply radiant. The gold flecks in his eyes glittered like stars in the dim light, giving the boy a somewhat ethereal look. “Your eyes…they’re simply too beautiful” Renly blurted out in hopes of catching the boy by surprise.

His ploy worked as Loras glanced up at him and blushed when he noticed the way Renly was staring at his face. Loras had finished his meal by now and he stood up quickly, making to gather the utensils. “I’ll just put these outside so that a chamber maid can take them…” Loras stopped abruptly when Renly placed his hand on his, stilling his movements.

“How can you be so beautiful…I don’t understand it”, Renly murmured as he stood up and pulled Loras gently towards him. Loras blushed even harder at that, and his eyes widened as he locked his gaze with Renly’s.   

“You really think so?” Loras whispered, and Renly let go of Loras’ hand to cup his cheek, his thumb caressing the corner of Loras’ bottom lip gently. “I wonder my sweet, sweet Loras…the taste of these luscious lips of yours”, Renly breathed, so close now that he could see the cute freckles on Loras’ nose.

Renly felt rather than heard Loras’ breath as it caught in his throat, and Loras’ body stiffened as Renly began to close the gap between them. The kiss was not meant to be, however, as Loras bowed his head at the last moment and Renly kissed his forehead instead.

Renly took a step back and looked at what he helped create. Loras was blushing furiously to the roots of his hair, staring down at his feet that were quivering. Renly smirked. Seems that even the hard headed and angry Loras was not completely immune to his charm. Given though, he will have to work extremely hard to get this one to bed with him willingly.

“Well, let’s get ready for bed, shall we?” Renly said cheerily, hoping to tease Loras a little more as he unclasped his doublet. Loras didn’t disappoint, as his head snapped up with panic on his face. “Bed? _We?”_ he asked in a squeaky voice.

Renly grinned mischievously at him as he shrugged off his doublet and began unlacing his tunic. “Yeah, are you going to sleep in your day clothes? You need to get changed for bed, don’t you?” Renly asked in a feigned innocent tone as he removed his tunic, leaving his torso bare for Loras to see.

Noticing that Loras was indeed staring at his muscled chest, he decided to tease the boy further by unlacing his breeches quickly them pushing them down. Loras squeaked and covered his eyes with his hands. “Don’t you have any shame? Go get changed behind the screen, don’t get naked in front of me!” Loras yelped, making Renly laugh.

“Well, we’re both men, so there’s no bother anyway. Welcome to the world of men”, Renly said as he pulled on his sleeping clothes. Renly had already reached his bed when he noticed that Loras was still standing with his eyes screwed shut in the middle of the room. “Well?” Renly laughed, “Are you going to sleep or not?”

Loras peeked to see that Renly was indeed decent before he practically ran to his bed on the floor and hid under the covers. Renly leaned over the bed and wrapped his finger and tugging around a stray curl that was peeking out from beneath the cover.

Loras just hissed and batted his hand away furiously. “That’s it then? The blanket is your ford against me now, is it?” Renly asked as he stubbornly ran his hand through Loras’ curls, refused to be deterred by the boy’s seething.

“Just shut up, leave me alone and sleep, will you?” Loras mumbled in an annoyed huff, making Renly laugh as he settled down beneath his own covers and closed his eyes. It had been a memorable evening as it was by far the only time that Renly can recall seeing Loras flustered or out of his element.

Sitting down in the garden, reminiscing about that evening and how the days after that seemed to give Renly no indication whatsoever as to whether Loras read and understood why he had left him the book, Renly just had to sigh when Jaime brought up the question.

Somehow Renly felt that he should just stop beating around the bush and just confront Loras already. In fact he felt that it would put Loras out of his misery, waiting every single day to see if this was the day his luck ran out.

“I will need to talk to him. Hopefully he’ll just accept it and lay back quietly for me”, Renly murmured, making Jaime pout. “Just do it already. He’s though, he’ll know what to do to survive. If anything he will know by now that you have no real intention of harming him, just using him er…in certain ways.”

Renly nodded as he heard Jaime’s voice roll through his head. He saw Loras gasping and laughing at Tommen’s story, his face at ease and calm. He wondered if it would be still calm when he told Loras that the day he dreaded was finally here.

Apparently Jaime had decided to put an end to Renly’s thinking misery for today, as he called for Tommen. “We’ve got to be going back now. The maester will not be pleased if you’re late again”, Jaime’s voice rang loud and clear in the small garden they were in.

Tommen pouted petulantly at that and whined, “But I’ve just got to the best part! Then Loras will be worried all day thinking about what happened to little Miss Boot!” Renly tried to contain his laughter and it was taking a real effort to do so. He for one knew that Loras would not be worried about some kitten somewhere, not when he spent most of his time daydreaming about the various ways he could escape and go home.

“It’s alright, I swear I will not worry too much. After all, Ser Pounce is a noble knight and shall surely be successful in rescuing his love”, Loras quipped quickly, confirming Renly’s suspicions that he actually didn’t really care about the story at all.

“Okay, I’ll go then….” Tommen said softly as his shoulders slumped down moodily. Loras’ face softened and he ruffled Tommen’s blond locks, making Tommen smile. “I’ll come back and tell you tomorrow then”, Tommen told Loras cheerily and turned to Renly, “Uncle Renly, you’ll bring him won’t you?” Renly smirked at that. “He does not have a choice, does he?” Jaime interjected before Renly could spit out anything scathing. “No one could separate you from your new best friend, even if he was the Master of Law himself!”

Tommen just gave Jaime a murderous glace before grumpily walking out of the garden. Loras gave a smile at that then looked at Renly awkwardly, as though he was not sure what to do. This was the first time that Loras had been let out of Renly’s room since he got here.

Renly noticed that Loras stared out the window at the gardens with a longing look on his face almost every day. Thus, he had decided to take Loras out into the gardens to calm him down a little so that it would be easier to tell him that tonight was the night Renly had finally decided to bed him.

Loras seemed reluctant to leave, staring at the pathway ahead of him with his back turned to Renly. Renly sighed and stood up. “Come on then. Let’s go for a walk, shall we?” Renly conceded. He walked to Loras and held his arm gently, pulling him forward.

Loras and Renly walked quietly through the garden, Loras stopping occasionally to smell a flower or two. When he reached a rose bush, Loras looked at it with a sad smile on his face, melancholy written all over it. Renly was going to pluck a rose for Loras to keep when Loras stopped him. “Don’t”, he whispered slowly to Renly.

Renly raised an eyebrow. “Why? I thought that you may like one to keep in a vase in our room.” Loras caressed the petals of the rose with such tenderness that Renly had never seen in him before. “Because it will wilt and die. It’s better to just leave it here, where its beauty can be appreciated by so many other people”, Loras said as he walked away. “And besides, I’m not a girl who you should be giving roses to”, he added as he stopped near some magnolia trees.

Renly just nodded and went to him. Loras was staring at him in the eye, his face determined. “Tell me, why are you being so kind to me all of a sudden? Like you’re trying to make me happy or something.”

Renly took in a deep breath and steeled himself. This was the moment he told Loras. Whether the boy was going to strangle him or start shouting, he had to tell the boy now that he’d asked.

“Remember why Robert gave you to me? For what purpose?” Renly prompted gently. Loras just continued staring back at him, his face impassive. “How could I forget? So you’ve decided that you’ve had enough waiting, then?” All Renly could do was nod. Loras closed his eyes. “I suspected as much when you left the book for me.”

Renly stroked Loras’ cheek gently, trying to calm him down as he could see that Loras’ lashes were getting wet and his lips quivering. “I will never hurt you on purpose. I will take good care of you and I will try my level best to keep you happy”, Renly whispered as he moved his hands from Loras’ cheeks to his waist, pulling him closer.

Loras’ eyes snapped open at that, wet with unshed tears. Renly knew that the boy will never cry in front of him. His pride would not allow it. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Renly Baratheon. You may regret it”, Loras murmured as he pushed Renly away gently.

Renly pulled Loras back to him. “So you did read the book?” Renly asked, curious to see Loras’ reaction. A faint blush crept up Loras’ cheeks and he looked away from Renly. Renly smirked at that. “So did you like what you read?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! It was obscene, filthy things in there. Nobody should look at such perverted things” Loras hissed indignantly. “But you did read those perverted things. So tell me, are you exited to try them out?” Loras began squirming in his arms, but Renly refused to let the boy go.

“I can give you pleasure, my sweet boy. I am a man, I know what another man needs. I can give you more pleasure than any tavern wench. That’s what the book is for. To share on how to get that bliss in bed, my sweetness”, Renly said then bent his head low to graze his lips on Loras’ ear. “Don’t you want to have that bliss too? Aren’t you even the tiniest bit curious as to why so many men do it for fun?” Renly whispered into Loras ear.

Renly felt Loras tremble and saw Loras flush flaming red. Loras started squirming harder, wanting to be let go. “Look at that blush”, Renly chuckled, “Curious are we?”

“I am not!” Loras squeaked, though he sounded very unconvincing. “Just do whatever you want to me, but don’t expect me to be willing and responsive to you. It is shameful, what you’re trying to do”, Loras said heatedly, a mixture of embarrassment and anger in his voice.

“And what am I supposed to be doing?”

Loras snarled at that. “Don’t play innocent with me. You know what I mean. Can we just go back and get it done with?” Loras seethed, his fists tight as though he wanted to punch Renly if he could. “Not yet my darling. I have some things to settle at my office. Night is a better time for such things”, Renly said nonchalantly and grabbed Loras’ arm again to walk beside him towards his chambers.

The walk back was silent, Renly amused and Loras seething beside him. Renly sent him to his chamber doors where the guards would make sure that Loras had no chance of escape. “Remember sweetness. Tonight we are going to have some fun.”

Loras just shut the door on his face.   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think Loras is going to do now?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I take so long to update, my uni work often gets in the way. After JJF mentioned it, I just couldn't help giving Renly's book of porn a character tag, it just seemed to be so popular in this fandom, it deserves recognition :-)

Renly nodded to his guards then took a deep breath as he opened the door to his chambers. Inching in slowly, he slumped his shoulders in relieve when he saw that Loras was asleep in his fur bed on the floor.

Renly had been expecting a sneak attack or something equally as horrendous as a means to incapacitate him before he touched the boy. Indeed Renly would not put anything past Loras’ determination to not be bedded and Renly sensed that Loras had been plotting his escape plan since earlier this afternoon.

He could see it in his mind’s eye, Loras pacing around the room and fidgeting, nervously and desperately coming up with a plan to save himself in time. It was slightly funny and also slightly pitiful, but Renly shoved the pity part to the back of his mind.

He would be gentle with Loras and not hurt him and that notion was enough to sooth Renly’s slight guilt.

Squatting down next to Loras, Renly noticed the telltale signs that the boy was actually not asleep. His chest was heaving heavily as though he was scared and his body was too tense all over to have been asleep. No, Loras was just pretending.

Renly sighed and shook Loras gently. “Wakey wakey, lazy boy. There’s things I want to do with you and I need you awake.”

Mentally Renly cursed himself for not being able to come up with a better array of words. Why was he so awkward now? He usually had a way with words, a smooth talker that could charm anybody with his wit and charisma. His brain seem frozen right now and the right words just evaded his mind.

Renly watched as Loras faked a huge yawn and opened one eye to peek up at Renly. Even in the dim candlelight Renly could see the nervousness on Loras’ face. “But I’m sleepy right now…” Loras complained then made a show of covering himself with his blanket, as though it was a soft cottony shield that could help protect him.

Renly considered scolding the boy before dismissing the thought. The boy was obviously scared of what Renly was planning to do with him and yelling was not going to help matters at all. Instead, Renly scooped Loras into his arms and carried him.

Loras yelped and clutched at Renly’s doublet. “What are you doing?!” he squeaked as he looked up at Renly furiously. Renly laughed at the expression on Loras’ face. Loras was kind of cute when he was angry, but he was not really angry right now. He was nervous and unsure and he was lashing out because of that.

Indeed, Renly could see a faint blush across his cheeks as he peered up at Renly precariously. Renly laughed as he deposited Loras onto his bed. “I was waking you up. Or calling your bluff really, any fool could see that you were pretending”, Renly stated plainly as he gathered Loras’ blankets and threw them back onto the furs on the floor.

Without his blanket Loras suddenly looked vulnerable, and he pushed himself back towards the headboard quickly to get as far away from Renly as possible. Renly raised an eyebrow at that. “Do you seriously think that you can run away from me?” Renly asked teasingly.

Loras looked at him with defiance in his eyes. “Yes”, he hissed confidently through gritted teeth.

Renly gave a little chuckle at that. “Oh, and you can actually stay hidden somewhere where the guards will not find you? Get out of the Red Keep without being caught?” The expression on Loras’ face told Renly that even Loras knew that it was an impossible feat to achieve.

“But I didn’t bathe today! I scrubbed the floors and dusted the wardrobe so I’m all covered in grime. Surely you want to wait until I get cleaned up?” Loras said in a desperate tone that showed it was his last resort to escaping the situation.

Indeed, Renly could see that Loras had gone through some trouble to make himself look unpresentable. His hair was tangled and he wearing the oldest, yellowed sleeping gown there was. However, Renly was undeterred, refusing to be outwitted by some ugly old dress.

“You look clean enough to me, from what I can see it’s only that sleeping dress that’s an eyesore. I can rip it right off you”, Renly spoke smoothly to show that he wasn’t bothered at all.

Loras balled up his fists and glared at Renly. “What is it that you want? I’ll do anything, I’ll even slog all day and sleep with the pigs but please, just don’t humiliate me like this”, Loras whispered earnestly.

Now Loras just looked at Renly with pleading eyes, hoping that Renly would grant him his wish. All it did was make Renly feel sad. “Is the notion of laying with me that bad? That you would rather sleep with the pigs?” Renly acted at being disappointed.

Maybe if he tried another approach Loras would see a glimpse of things the way he did.

Indeed, Loras’ face softened and he moved a little closer to Renly. “No, it’s not that. It’s not even you actually. I…I just…I’m being reduced to being a whore, to be fucked like some pleasure toy. It’s supremely embarrassing to be treated this way”, Loras whispered back to Renly.

Renly dared to move forward to brush Loras’ hair off his face. He didn’t make it though, as Loras moved away from his touch, scuttling back to the headboard. “Do you think I would treat you that way? Have I treated you that way?” Renly asked in an offended tone. Really, after all he kindness and restrained he’d shown, he was rather hoping that Loras would not see him as some perverted monster.

“No…” Loras said in a very tiny voice, one which Renly had to strain his ears to hear. “I promise I will not treat you like some whore. I will not hurt you and I will not treat you like some emotionless object. Actually, I plan to take very good care of you, as long as you’re obedient of course.”

Renly heard Loras take in a sharp breath. “Take care of me how?” Loras asked tentatively, with just a hint of curiosity in his voice. “Well, for one I’ll make sure nobody else touch you except for me. Nobody else can bully you or irritate you except for me…”, Renly paused to wink at Loras, “…but more importantly, I promise to keep you well fed, healthy and clothed. You will not suffer like some of the slaves do, I promise you that.”

Loras fiddled with the edge of a pillow. “And I should believe you because…”, Loras looked up expectantly at Renly. “Because I could have raped you and beat you till you were bleeding and dying of some infection in some filthy cell somewhere. You’re relatively fine and not dying yet, as per the usual treatment for war captives, and you have me to thank for that”, Renly said gently but firmly to get his point across.

He wanted to assure the boy in front of him that he was different, that he was not some barbaric warlord who just trampled on their war captives like a mindless animal. Well, he wanted to show Loras that was not like Robert, really.

Loras didn’t really looked convinced but he sighed, and his shoulders fell a little as he seemed to resign himself to the situation that he was in. After a few moments where Loras was silent and sitting quietly, Renly moved forward and held the boy.

Almost immediately Loras struggled against Renly’s hold, kicking furiously to get loose. “Hush now, just calm down will you!” Renly gasped out as he tried to maneuverer Loras onto lying on his back. “Just how am I supposed to calm down with what you’re planning to do with me?” Loras shouted back as he yanked on Renly’s hair.

Feeling as though his scalp was being pulled out, Renly decided to put his weight into pinning Loras down onto the bed. Loras just kept on screaming his heart out, and the fear was clearly written on his face now that he was completely pinned down with no space to move.

Loras sniffed then whispered, “Please, please don’t hurt me. The stories I’ve heard…of what men did to the whores they got…” Renly’s heart nearly broke when he heard the cracked voice in which the boy begged him. He knew that Loras was a prideful person, and that he would never be reduced to begging if he didn’t have genuine terror in his mind about what was to come.

Renly could feel Loras trembling with fear all over beneath him and as such, he loosened his hold on the boy a little.

Placing his palm on Loras chest right over his heart, Renly leaned in to whisper into the boy’s ear. “I’ll never hurt you. That’s not what I want, I don’t get off that kind of stuff. But I’m not the king and I can’t let you walk out of here. You’re a prisoner of war who was given to me as a birthday gift, so for now I say what happens to you. You run away and Robert thinks you’re too much trouble, he’ll just send you to the gold cloaks so that they all can have a round or two with you.”

Renly felt Loras freeze with fear under him.

“That’s right, my darling. You’re a pretty one and there are many out there eager to rape you, as you know with your experience in the dungeons. In here, you are mine and mine only, and as my personal pleasure slave no one else can touch you. I’ll treat you right and you’ll never have a thing to complain about. I need you to help me to help you here by just laying back for me. That’s all I want and I need. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Loras turned his head a little to look at Renly. “You’re saying that if you give you my body you’ll make sure I’m safe?” Renly just whispered “Yes”, before kissing Loras’ forehead gently.

Loras appeared to be thinking, a little frown on his head. “What’s it going to be, Loras? Just let me take pleasure from your body for all the comfort in the world, or being raped till you die at the hands of some brutish people?”

Loras let out a breath and a set look of determination came upon his face. “Fine…just don’t share me with your friends or let people watch. It’s degrading enough to let one guy fuck me already.”

 “Ok”, Renly said cheerfully as he held Loras in his arms, waiting for him to calm down.

All the fight seemed to have left Loras as he didn’t respond to Renly’s holding him and he let himself be maneuvered around the bed by Renly, almost like a doll that a child would play with. Renly lifted the thin sleeping gown off Loras, revealing an expanse of creamy, unblemished skin, glowing in the dim candle light.

It was only then when Renly was looking at Loras’ body in awe did Loras’ doll like state break as he took in a shuddering breath before wrapping his arms around his body, trying to shield it from Renly’s view. Renly looked at the boy in front of him, head bowed in embarrassment and desperately trying to salvage whatever he could of his pride.

Loras looked so small and vulnerable sitting on Renly’s bed naked save his small clothes that Renly decided to abandon any notion he had of caressing the boy’s skin and prolonging his torture. That would come later, when Loras was already used to the idea of being Renly’s bed partner.

In fact, Renly was sure that Loras just wanted this over with and that he was not interested in having any pleasure in this. It would be a little dull to have a bed partner who was unresponsive, but Renly set himself a challenge to try and make Loras enjoy sex with him while it lasted.

Because he was sure that Loras was going to escape and succeed or either die at it someday.

Instead, Renly moved to remove Loras’ small clothes and move him so that he was laying on his side with his back to Renly. It seemed that Loras was glad to not be facing Renly, as he immediately grabbed a pillow and hid his face in it.

As Renly got his bottle of oil and pulled out the cork, he heard Loras ask, “What the hell is that for? I’m supposed to massage you or something?” Renly gave a little laugh at that. “I can’t just shove myself in you, you know? The oil makes it easier to go in as it’s slippery.”

Holding Loras’ shoulder with one hand, Renly gently pressed in a finger, making Loras gasp loudly. “Just what the hell are you doing?” Loras snapped as he turned his head a bit to see what Renly was trying to do.

“Well, as said, I can’t just go in there, I need to stretch you first. It would really be best if you relaxed now, you’re so tense I can hardly move here”, Renly said nonchalantly as he rubbed tiny circles on Loras’ shoulder.

“If I refuse to relax? What happens then?” Loras quipped back and Renly could hear just the tiniest bit of defiance in his voice. “Oh, then I just have to force my way into you until you tear open and bleed for me”, Renly stated plainly.

Loras grew pale before he nodded and took in a deep breath as he turned his face back to his pillow. Renly felt Loras relax a little, though not by much. After he managed two fingers in, he scissored for a while before conceding that there was not much he could do there. Loras’ whole body was tense and no amount of preparation was going to help with that.

He turned Loras to face him gently before sitting himself between his legs. “Is this it then? This is when I lose my virtue?” Loras asked in a heated voice as Renly spread his legs gently. “Yes.” It was all Renly could say. He knew that Loras hated that he was forced to do this and was severely embarrassed right now. Once more, Renly wished he knew the words that would help soothe the boy, but then again he wondered if there were any words made for such an occasion.

Instead Renly stroked the boy’s thighs gently in what he hoped was a soothing manner.

“Is there anything you want me to do to make you more comfortable?” Renly asked gently, hoping there was something he could do to make this easier for the boy. He was not in luck as Loras just laughed mockingly at him. “You could decide not to fuck me. Although I think that’s not really something you would consider right now”, Loras spat scathingly as he grabbed a pillow and held it to his chest.

Renly sighed then positioned himself at Loras’ entrance. As he entered, he could feel Loras’ body tensing up and resisting. “Loras don’t resist it. It’ll only make it hurt worse”, Renly told the boy gently as he rubbed the jut of his hip gently.

Loras nodded and screwed his eyes shut tightly as gripped the pillow even tighter. Renly pushed in gently as Loras relaxed little by little. Loras’ hole was incredibly tight and the heat threatened to consume Renly’s mind with desire, but Renly willed himself to show some restraint.

He had promised that he would not hurt Loras, so he was not about to pound into the by like some senseless animal.

Loras cried out a little when he was fully in and his whole body was shaking all over. “Are you ok?” Renly asked, concerned if Loras was in pain. Desire aside, if he was hurting the boy, he would not proceed any further.   

Loras took in a shuddering breath and replied, “No, I just feel like all my internal organs have had to shift aside, so just give me a moment to get used to it.” Renly obliged and even held Loras’ hand, rubbing tiny circles with his thumb while waiting for the boy to adjust.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity Loras let go of Renly’s hand and nodded to him. Taking it as a cue to go on, Renly began to move in and out of Loras gently. While Loras was still wincing a little, he looked much more relaxed so Renly dared to pick up the speed.

Soon enough, he let go of his reins and moved to sate his desire. He had waited long enough, and his restraint was spent. Right now, his animalistic side took over to seek relieve in Loras’ beautiful body.

Loras was silent all the while, eventually taking to gripping his pillow to his face like a lifeline. Renly was close when he heard a muffled cry coming from Loras, making him stop abruptly. “Gods, are you ok? Did I hurt you?”

“I’m fine, just finish off so that this nightmare will be over already”, came the muffled reply through the pillow. Renly just nodded to himself and continued on. Loras didn’t have to suffer long because Renly came soon after, pleasure from his orgasm clouding his mind.

As Renly crashed onto the bed beside Loras, Loras just curled into a ball around the pillow. As Renly came down from the haze that came from his orgasm, Renly moved sluggishly around the room, trying to get clean before sleeping.

Wetting a washcloth, Renly cleaned himself. It was then that he noticed that Loras was still curled in a ball, not moving or making any sound at all. “Loras?” Renly called tentatively but there was no reply. Wetting another washcloth, Renly went over to Loras and began cleaning the boy. “Loras, are you sore? Do you want a warm bath to sit in to help with the soreness?” Renly asked gently as he dabbed at Loras’ used hole and thighs but there was no reply.

Sighing, Renly dumped the washcloth with his other bathing supplies and lay back down to sleep.

It was only later, as Renly was falling asleep did he feel, rather than hear the sobs racking through Loras’ body.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any suggestions, or if you've spot any mistakes, feel free to comment! I'm not a native English speaker, in fact English is my third language, so any help is appreciated :-D


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due to the depressing mood of the last chapter, I decided to make this one happier and fluffy!

Renly woke up groggily, feeling as though he didn’t have enough sleep. He constantly feels this way, not being a morning person, but he had to wake up to deal with the pile of paperwork waiting for him. Renly shuffled to the edge of the bed and peered down, expecting to see Loras asleep there. Instead, Renly was met with confusion when he was met with the sight of an empty fur bed.

“Loras?” Renly called out before getting off the bed to find the boy when no reply came. It has been two weeks since Renly had started sleeping with the boy, and every time after the first time Loras had been obedient, stripping off then laying down quietly and burying his face in his now favorite pillow while Renly had sex with him.

That pillow was officially Loras’ and nobody else was allowed to touch it.

By now Loras seemed assured that Renly was not going to go back on his promise of keeping him safe and had eased a little bit with being around Renly. They sometimes had dinner together and twice Renly brought Loras to stroll around the gardens so that he could spend the evening seeing the flowers, especially the roses that the boy loved so much.

Loras still seemed unhappy about the situation he was in. sometimes a faraway look would cloud his eyes and he would sigh while looking at families. Due to this, Renly suspected that Loras had come from a very close knit family and he missed his siblings very much. Loras still had his emotional outbursts but at least now he was calm instead of attempting to run away every week or so. He still defied Renly whenever he could though, and argued heatedly on some topics.

However, the most amazing thing about Loras was how he had managed to be friends with almost everybody he met in the castle even though he was supposed to be just a measly slave. Tommen still visited Loras every single day and even Mrycella had started tagging along occasionally. The girl had even gotten a hair brush as a present for Loras, saying that he had very pretty curls and that she wished she had curly hair too.

Sansa Stark, the Hand’s daughter had ran into them one day in the garden and the girl seemed to have loved being in Loras’ company. She came to Renly’s chambers and talked to him almost every day after that. Most of Renly’s household and guards seem to be quite fond of the boy too.

The most surprising though, had to be when Jaime too joined the bandwagon and declared affection towards the boy. Jaime, being a cold, sarcastic and downright narcissist person seemed to have bonded with Loras and is overly fond of the boy. Right now Renly thinks that the last straw had to be Cersei, if she too decided that she liked Loras while she hated everybody else, Renly would have to give an award to Loras.

Just how the hell Loras managed that to charm everybody when he looked miserable and argued back on almost everything was beyond Renly’s comprehension. He suspected it was the curls.

But even Renly had to admit that despite all his stubbornness and anger, Loras had a very soft side to him. He suffered through Tommen’s ridiculous stories and sat silently as Sansa complained about her sister and her fiancée (the idiotic Crown Prince Joffrey). Loras also seemed to love plants and a soft look would come across his face as he gently cradled a flower to smell it.

Padding out of his sleeping quarters into his solar, Renly finally found Loras who was currently asleep at the window sill, with one arm hanging out the window. Frowning, Renly went over to see if Loras was really asleep or merely resting. Loras didn’t react at all, which meant he was fast asleep but it seemed to Renly that he was in a very uncomfortable place, the window sill being made of solid rock and a chilly breeze still coming in through the window.

“Loras?”Renly called gently but Loras was still in deep sleep. Renly didn’t have the heart to wake the boy up and figuring that Loras would regret it enough already when he woke up with pains all over his body, Renly decided to leave him be.

Going about his morning ritual, Renly didn’t spare any thought to the sleeping boy until he was eating his meal. Frowning to himself, Renly wondered why Loras haven’t woken up. Loras was a light sleeper and he was always awake early. Given that the servants had been scuttling about, the sun was completely up and shining brightly and that Renly had been talking to some of his guards in this very room earlier, it was surprising that Loras didn’t even stir.

Putting down his bread, Renly walked over to Loras and bent down. Renly’s first thought was that something was seriously wrong. Upon closer inspection in the bright sunlight, Loras looked pale and his breathing was shallow.

Renly touched the boy’s cheek gently, only to feel heat against his palm. Loras was burning up with a fever. “Oh gods….Loras, wake up!” Loras just grunted softly. Loras must have got a fever from sitting in the chilly night wind for so many hours, without a blanket to keep him warm. Renly shook him a little harder, and Loras opened his eyes a crack to see Renly.

“Leave me alone, I’m tired and my head hurts and I want to sleep…” Loras mumbled weakly as he shut his eyes and returned to sleep. Renly leaned against the wall and watched Loras ignore him. Running his hand through his hair, Renly wondered what to do.

It was only after a while that Renly figured that he should call for a maester instead of sitting there like an idiot. Feeling incredibly stupid for not thinking of that earlier, Renly got a servant to fetch a maester. A number of them were cleaning his room so it was an easy thing to just ask one of them to help him.  “Tell him it’s urgent. Loras feels as hot as a furnace”, Renly told the girl and she nodded and ran down the hall.

Feeling extremely worried, Renly figured that he should move Loras away from the window sill and get him under the covers. He scooped Loras into his arms and carried him back to his chambers. A few other servants were in the room and as soon as Renly deposited Loras onto his bed, they began fussing over him and tucked him in. Renly watched as a young girl got a wet washcloth and began wiping Loras’ face gently.

“Mnnn…cold…”Loras complained in his sleep, turning his face away to get away from the washcloth. “It’s all right, you’re having a fever. Here, I’ll put this on your forehead, it should help a little”, the girl told Loras kindly as she folded the washcloth and placed it on Loras’ forehead.

Loras reached a hand up to touch the washcloth gingerly. “Wet…cold…”

Renly nodded to himself. “Yes, it’s wet and that’s why it’s cold.” Loras shook his head gently. “I feel cold all over. My head hurts”, Loras moaned pathetically, making Renly’s heart go out to him. “Shush now, don’t worry. The maester will be here with your medication soon. You’ll be fine”, an elderly looking servant told Loras and stroked his hair gently.

“No medication…hate medication…will be fine without any…” Loras managed to mumble out slowly. “But you need something to bring your fever down!” Renly protested heatedly. “I don’t want to swallow any disgusting potions. I’ll fight it off.”

Now Renly too felt a headache coming. Even when weakened by a raging fever Loras was adamant with defying everybody around him. Pinching his nose, Renly willed himself to calm down and just let the maester handle the situation.

The elderly woman just chuckled and turned to face Renly. “Don’t worry milord, I’ve handled many children in my lifetime and they all say the same thing when it comes to taking medication. I’m sure the maester is much more adept at handling errant children who refused medication than we are.”

“I certainly hope so because I just know that Loras is the most stubborn boy I’ve ever met. He’s so stubborn I bet he won’t even let anybody help him even though he desperately needs it. Do you admit that the maester knows better than you?” Renly asked as he sat on the bed beside Loras.

But Renly was not going to get his answer, as Loras just pulled the blanket over his head. “Shut up, will you? Your voice is making my head hurt even more”, Loras spat weakly, but still full of haughtiness.

“See?” Renly told the elderly woman and she just smiled at Renly. “Just leave him be. He’s ill, it’s only natural that he would be irritable right now”, she said gently as she proceeded to her duty of collecting Renly’s laundry.

Renly sat down there, eyes closed and supporting his head in one hand while waiting for what felt like centuries. Eventually the servants completed their task for the morning and left so it was only the two of them in the room. That was when Renly felt Loras shift on the bed towards him. “What is it?” Renly asked, not bothering to look up. “You umm…you don’t have to stay here and take care of me. You’re normally in your office by now and I’m sure you have a lot of work to do.”

Renly looked up out of surprise and saw Loras sitting near him, fiddling with the edge of his blanket. Renly squinted at the boy, convinced that Loras had to have some ulterior motive for being considerate towards him. Normally Loras enjoyed making his life hell.

“Why? So that you can bully the maester until he runs away before treating you?” Renly laughed. Loras just bowed his head a little and gripped the blanket tightly around him. “No, I just…I didn’t want you to feel that you need to leave your work and babysit me just because I’m sick.”

Now Renly felt awful. Loras was just trying to be kind to him. Renly took Loras’ hand gently and smiled at him. Loras looked up at him with wide eyes and shot off, “It’s because I don’t want you to think I’m weak and need your help. I’m perfectly fine, a fever can’t bring me down. That’s why I said that, because I’ll be perfectly fine and I don’t need you to care for me at all. So you don’t need to be here.”

“I know that you’re a very strong boy, but I think I’ll just stay a while just in case you need me. It’s my job to care for you, so I will not leave you all alone until I know that you don’t have anything dangerous. I’ll wait for the maester and make sure it’s just a common illness before I go”, Renly said slowly, his voice as soft as a whisper.

Loras’ eyes softened just a fraction and he squeezed Renly’s hand. “So you’re being my mommy now?” Renly squeezed his hand back. “Yes, maybe. I’m just taking care of you.”

Loras gave a little smile, just the slightest upward movement of his lips, but one which made the gold in his eyes sparkle before pulling his hand back. “Fine, I’ll let you mommy me. But only because I have no other choice”, Loras stated as he shuffled back to lie down on the bed.

“It’s ok. Rest now”, Renly laughed as he moved to help Loras lie down on the bed. Renly knew that was the closest to a ‘thank you’ he was going to get from Loras and that he should be thankful that Loras had deigned to grace him with his smile. Renly watched Loras as he fell asleep and felt worry fill his mind again. Jokes aside, Loras really looked pale, all the color was drained from his face and even his curls hung limply, as though they too were ill.

The maester arrived a little while later with his assistant, a gangly boy with an explosion of freckles across his face. The girl that Renly had sent to get them followed behind, a basket of supplies on her arm.    

It was the same maester that had treated Loras’ head injury and he looked amused. “Is the boy ill? Or has he managed to get himself knocked out again?” Renly didn’t appreciate the joke though and he said stiffly, “No, he’s ill. I think the fever is getting to his head. He actually smiled at me.”

Renly could only be thankful that Loras had dozed off and so didn’t move to plonk him on his head.

The maester’s face changed abruptly as he approached the bed and noticed how Loras looked. “I see. Lord Renly, if you would please move from the bed so I can examine the boy”, the maester said as he reached to touch Loras’ forehead, presumably to feel how bad his fever was.

Renly obliged by getting up and moving to the corner of the room. Soon enough, Renly could hear Loras mumbling and complaining as the maester woke him up and asked him some questions. That made Renly smile a little, since Loras was being his usual difficult self even when he was so weak. The maester said without turning, “Lord Renly, did the boy by any chance went out in the storm last night? He seems to be exhibiting all the signs of a child who decided to play in a stormy rain even when advised not to.”

First of all Renly was shocked there was a storm the night before. He wondered how deep in sleep he must have been until something clicked in his head. It made sense now, why he felt that the morning chill was colder than usual this morning.

“He didn’t go out, but he slept at the window last night. Without a blanket to keep him warm”, Renly answered the maester as he folded his arms, wondering if Loras was watching the storm and fell asleep at the window.

The maester sighed as he motioned for his assistant to bring him his basket of supplies. “That would do it. Sitting in the cold wind and I bet getting wet from rain splattering then not even bothering to get warm. No wonder you’re sick, little boy, you have a cold.”

Renly could not see Loras’ face from where he was standing, but he knew Loras was definitely bristling. Sure enough, a moment later he heard Loras hiss, “I am not some snotty little boy who plays in the rain.”

The maester huffed. “You may not have played in the rain but you were stupid enough to stay exposed to the cold and let the chill into your bones. You’re definitely a snotty little boy for me. Now I have your remedy, just take it twice a day, rest a lot and you’ll feel all better in a day or two. You will take the first dose now”, the maester said cheerily as he got a few bottles containing a murky liquid out from a basket.

“If I refuse to take that disgusting looking thing?” Loras challenged as he sat up in the bed and stared the maester down. The maester was not the slightest bit intimidated. “Lord Renly, if you would be so kind as to leave the room. I’m about the shove the remedy down the little brat’s throat and it will not be a pretty sight. Then I would like to have a word with you, outside.”

Renly took one look at the staring match between Loras and the maester before fleeing.

He waited outside with the guards, wondering if the old frail looking maester had a steely enough will to break through Loras’ stubbornness. Smiling to himself, Renly imagined Loras’ petulant scowl as the maester berated him for being childish.

Renly chatted a bit with his guards, they were curious about what had happened to Loras and why Renly had been sent out. After a little while, the chamber doors opened a crack and the maester’s assistant peeked through. “The maester wants to talk to you in your solar, Lord Renly.”

Renly nodded to his guards and followed the gangly boy. Glancing at the bed, Renly could see that the drapes around the bed were closed, probably to block the light so that Loras would sleep better.

The maester was sitting on a chair when he came in, looking exhausted. Looking up at Renly, he told the young lord, “I don’t know how you deal with him every day. He’s extremely stubborn and childish. I sense an over pampered child who got away with anything he did at home.”

Renly winced a little then shrugged. “I don’t know, he refuse to tell me anything about where he had come from and who he is. His first name is all I know about him, I don’t even know how old he is.” The maester let out a deep breath and put his hands together. “Is it true what I heard? The rumor goes that the boy really is your slave, a present from His Grace for your birthday”, the maester inquired cautiously.

Renly nodded gently at that. “That he is, but I don’t see what that has to do with anything”, Renly exclaimed as he went to sit at his writing table. “Oh, I see. You care for the boy very much, do you?” the maester said with raised eyebrows.

Renly sighed and answered, “I do. I can’t see him like an object, like some possession of mine. He’s a boy, and often I can’t help thinking that there are a pair of parents somewhere crying that their son is missing, maybe brothers and sisters even. He’s very much alive and he needs to be cared for.”

The maester squinted his eyes at Renly. “A child needs attention, milord. They tend to do ridiculous things just because they feel like it and they are not the wisest of people. If you really care for the boy you need to put him in his place. You need to be a little harsh, but the gods know that this boy needs it.”

“Ah well…he is a child…how old do you think he is?” Renly asked, his curiosity suddenly piqued. The maester looked contemplative for a while then answered, “My guess would be thirteen or fourteen. His body has started its change but he’s still growing into it. If he’s a late bloomer, maybe almost fifteen.”

Renly dismissed the maester after that and went to check on Loras. To his surprise, Loras was standing near the window, tip toeing to look out. “Hey, the skies are clear already. No more rain I guess.”

Renly felt the blood rush to his head and he put his hands on his hips, partly intrigued that Loras was still moving around and partly annoyed because Loras just refuse to cooperate and rest already. “I didn’t hear the maester asking you to move around. In fact I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to be doing something else right now”, Renly drawled out, trying to make his voice sound intimidating.

Loras didn’t seem to care.

“I know, I’ll go back to bed now. I was just wondering if there will be another storm”, Loras said as he bounded back to the bed and jumped on it. Renly wondered just how Loras managed to go from deathly weak to full of energy in five minutes.

When Renly went to make sure that Loras was getting under the covers though, he could see that Loras still looked every bit as ill as he did earlier. “You think that by pretending you’re all right the cold will go away, do you?” Renly teased the boy as he sat to help Loras smooth the covers over his body.

“What is supposed to go away? I’m fine! When was I ever ill?” Loras laughed merrily as she shuffled around the bed, looking for a comfortable spot to sleep in. Renly was so shocked that he merely stared at Loras open mothed.

“What? Close your mouth, you look like an idiot!” Loras giggled, his cheeks turning pink as he laughed on. Renly smiled at Loras and stroked his cheeks gently. “It’s just that…this is the first time you’ve laughed around me”, Renly said softly and Loras’ laughter slowed down to a smile.

“It is, now is it? Maybe I don’t have a cold. Maybe my misery had addled my brain and made me crazy. But I just felt like laughing.” Loras closed his eyes then, a peaceful look on his face. Guessing that he should leave Loras in a good mood to sleep off, Renly kissed Loras’ forehead gently before getting up from the bed to go to work.

“You’re making my life difficult, you know? One day you make me hate you so much I want to strangle you in your sleep and the next day you’re all sweet and kind and making my heart melt. I can’t stick to hating you or ignoring you, my head is spinning in circles when it comes to you”, Loras said so softly that Renly had to strain his ears to hear it.

Renly bent over Loras and stroked his hair gently. “I’m sorry you have to go through this. I’m sorry if I somehow hurt you. I believe in my restrain, I believe in the kindness I have shown people and shown you, but I don’t know if it really is my strength or really just my weakness in resolve. I hope that whatever kindness that I give you, and the kindness of the new friends around you will make it easier for you to forgive us some day, forgive fate for being so harsh on you and dealing you such a cold hand.”

Loras’ eyes snapped open then, his eyes misty as he looked up at Renly. The young lord moved away then, feeling that he had said too much already, even shocked that the words had spilled out of his mouth for Loras to hear. He walked all the way to the door then took in a deep breath before glancing back.

Loras was kneeling at the edge of the bed on his knees and one hand, while the other pushed away the dark green drape so that he could look at Renly. Renly swallowed as he took in Loras’ small body, his fluffy curls and most of all, the look he had on his face.

He remembered what the maester said, that the boy was only thirteen or fourteen. Still half a child, not yet a man. Barely old enough to understand why there was a war and why humans were killing each other all over the place. Still, Loras was old enough to feel, and there were so much emotion in that gold pools he had had for eyes and Renly suddenly found he could no longer look at them without feeling that he was being burned.

He opened the door and fled from Loras, his emotions and his unasked questions.

        

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you thought of this chapter :-D It's ok if it was weird, or downright boring or if you feel this was not what you were expecting, I just want to know what the people who read this honestly think :-)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year, everybody! I'm sorry that this took so long to come out, I've been very ill recently due to post surgery complications and teemed with my exams I just didn't have time to write anything

“It’s not raining too heavily today. But it’s still heavy. At least there’s no thunder.” Renly looked up from the letter he was writing to see Loras perched at his favorite place at the window sill. Loras was still recovering from his fever but he was much better now and had regained his vitality.

That meant that Loras was up and running around Renly’s chambers doing god knows what. After the maester had forced Loras to take his medication, he slept peacefully on Renly’s bed until it was almost sundown. It helped that Loras was still feeling weak and drowsy afterwards, so he didn’t put up any fight when Renly asked him to rest even when Sansa and Tommen was visiting.

Sansa was very understanding and sympathetic, being the kind person that she was. She encouraged Loras to eat some bread and soup for dinner and nagged him until he took his second dose of medication. Renly was ever thankful for her help. 

Refreshed from a whole day of rest, Loras awoke looking and feeling much better, and he seemed to be bouncing around the chambers in excitement the whole day long. When Renly woke up he was greeted with the sight of Loras rooting around his books, a pile already out and scattered on the floor beside Loras’ tiny figure.

“What are you looking for there?” Renly had asked as he rubbed the sand from his eye, wondering how a boy that was ill actually looked so active so early in the morning. “I was looking for something to read. I can go crazy cooped up in here when you go do whatever it is the Master of Laws do.”

 Renly gave a tiny laugh at that and threw his covers to the side. “What do you feel like reading? These are my books so I can tell you which of them are any good”, Renly stated as he hopped off the bed to join Loras near the trunk in which Renly stored his books.

Loras looked up from where he was kneeling and Renly swore he saw Loras blush a little. In fact, Loras seemed to be hesitating, frowning a little as he looked at Renly. Renly just raised an eyebrow at that. After a while though, Loras cleared his throat and spoke softly, “Do you have any tales with knights in it? Or of dragons or lore of those beyond the wall?”

 Renly threw his head back and laughed. Loras wanted to read children’s tales, and he was embarrassed to admit to wanting to read such things. Indeed, Loras’ cheeks grew red as he got angry. “Don’t laugh at me!” he screamed, or rather yelped in a voice that sounded so high pitched it was funny to Renly’s ears.

Renly laughed lauder and beyond angry, Loras lunged forward and pushed Renly with both hands. “I said don’t laugh!” Loras continued his assault by trying to tackle Renly to the ground. Although some of Loras’ strikes did hurt quite a bit (Loras was rather good at targeting painful areas, the sneaky boy), Renly was bigger and stronger and thus he subdued Loras easily by grabbing him by the waist and draping the slip of a boy over his shoulder.

“You’re lucky you’re ill, if not…” Renly said merrily as he carried Loras around the chambers. Loras battered his fists on Renly’s back and kicked his legs around wildly, not happy to be on Renly’s shoulder at all. “Let me down, let me DOWN!” Loras screamed as Renly moved to pick up a book on his writing desk.

“Ok. Down you go.” Renly quickly walked back to the bed and practically threw Loras onto the bed on his back. Winded, with the breath knocked out of his lungs Loras was quiet for a few seconds before he propped himself up on his elbows and glared at Renly.

Renly remembered thinking that Loras looked like a fluffy kitten when he first saw him. With his curls in a frizz and his intense stare, Loras looked like a very angry cat and Renly wondered if he would hiss a warning if he did approach him.

Ever attracted to the notion of making Loras angry, Renly jumped onto the bed in an attempt to land on Loras. The boy rolled away in time though and Renly was still laughing when he maneuvered himself so that he was lying down on his side and looking at Loras.

Loras was glaring daggers at him, his fist balled up as though he wanted to punch Renly but had thought the better of it. “What’s wrong with you? Are you insane?” Loras hissed angrily. Renly chortled out a laugh, he was growing breathless with all the laughing that he was doing this morning. “What’s the point of being sane all the time? There’s no fun in being a prim and proper adult, is there?”

Something Renly said must have stuck a nerve, because Loras’ face immediately changed. He looked at Renly in shock, then his eyes glasses over with sadness as they went downcast. Renly immediately went to Loras and cupped his face gently. “What’s wrong? What did I do?”

Loras swatted Renly’s hand away before answering, “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.” Renly was not happy about that and he opened his mouth to tell Loras so, only that Loras had jumped off the bed and returned to the stack of books. “Back to the main agenda, weren’t you supposed to tell me which of this is a good read? Or are you as useless in this as in everything else you do?”

Renly made his best annoyed face before asking, “Oh, I’m useless now am I?” Loras just shrugged and kneeled beside the books. “Pretty much.”

Renly had decided to let that slight fly by, after all no matter what Loras would insist, he knew he was far from useless. He helped Loras pick out a few books and noted that Loras seemed particularly interested in the ones with brave knights on dangerous, thrilling adventures.

Seeing the boy perched at the window sill now, he had to smile a little. For all his anger and his fighting Renly, Loras was actually pretty agreeable once made to see reason. Although Renly was still pretty sure that Loras hated him and hated being stuck in this castle. He may even be planning his escape in all his free time, refining the details and making sure it was a solid plan with a high chance of success.

Renly doubted the last part of that trail of thought, Loras was an impulsive person and tended to take opportunities the moment they present themselves. He never was afraid of trying and Renly suspected he never will.  

“See Loras, I was wondering, why are you so fond of books with great knights in it? Do they interest you?” Renly asked, feeling that the room was too quiet for his liking. Loras merely glanced at him before shrugging. “I like the adventures they get to do and how everybody respects them. They are the most awesome people to me.”

Even though Loras was trying to be nonchalant about it, Renly could see that Loras was exited talking about knights. There was an unmistakable glint in his brown eyes and there was a hint of something in his voice, something Renly could not place.   

“But why are they awesome? I find all that tiring and useless, really. All they really do is compete in tourneys and all. Most of them are nobility so they don’t go into actual wars either. It’s the soldiers who do most of the fighting, really”, Renly prodded on, hoping that he would get Loras angry enough to spill something.

Truth to be told, Renly was getting rather curious as to who Loras really was and what exactly he was doing in some run down village. His ploy worked; Loras glared back at Renly with venom in his eyes. “You are a knight, are you not? Don’t your people think that your brother, King Robert is some kind of hero that saved them from a mad king? Your other brother is said to have a will of iron and morals of high stature back in The Reach”, Loras said softly, but there was heat in his voice already.

“Still, there are less than perfect when you really look at them. Robert does nothing but drinking and whoring himself to an early grave and Stannis really is an uptight and fun depriving fellow. As for me, I am a knight, but I got my knighthood while I was made a Lord so I see nothing of it but just some tittle I hold. There’s nothing great in being a knight to me.”

Renly could see that he clearly struck a nerve as Loras bristled as he jumped down from the window sill. “Is everything a joke to you? A knight is not some title you hold, it’s an oath to be a warrior and to uphold justice. It takes bravery and effort to be a knight. People like you make a mockery of what a knight should be, prattling around in your fine garments in a castle. You’ve never even picked up a sword in your life, have you?”

Loras was standing near the window, his cheeks red and his eyes more gold than brown. The fury seemed to seep out of every pore of his body and hung like raw energy in the air. Renly stood up slowly and walked towards the boy. “That’s in stories of old, dear boy. Some noble child squires for some lord knight and eventually becomes a knight because his father wants him to, that’s all.”

“It’s not. A true warrior is not some complacent fat noble who hides like a coward in a castle”, Loras spat, his eyes hard with emotions. Renly just laughed however. “Just who do you think would go out and make their own lives difficult when they can order some poor peasants to do their jobs for them? Admit it, there are no men with such honor that they would not take advantage of the fact that they were high born and stay safe then to fight and give a damm about the common folk.”

This was a lie, Renly himself cared for the common folk more than was good for him but Loras did not know that. Loras looked up at him in defiance and whispered, “It’s not just the common folk. It’s the kingdom, the realm. I thought the Stormlands bred fearsome warriors. All I see is an extravagant fool!” Loras finally began raising his voice.

Renly raised an eyebrow and said, “Oh I see. Somebody here is childish enough to think that men really are like the characters they read about in their children’s books. You are naïve and in denial about the fact that most men only look out for themselves.”

“Most men, not all. I am not a child and I will not be spoken to as though I am an idiot who has not get his head out of his little daydreams he had as a child!”, Loras screamed, clearly enraged that he was being treated like some petulant child.

“You are a child and you are living in a daydream. Was it that you wanted to be a knight? A tiny little thing like you with pretty little curls wants to be a warrior? Don’t make me laugh”, Renly scoffed. Loras balled up his fists in anger at that. “What if I wanted to be a knight? What if I wanted to be a proper warrior? I’m brave enough and true enough to myself to”, Loras stated proudly, his chest expanding with pride in himself.

“Fat chance you will. I doubt that you can even carry a proper sword, fragile little thing that you are. You are not cut out to be a knight and you know it”, Renly put up his best mocking voice. He hated insulting another person like this, but this was the only way that Loras was going to tell him anything.

“I am a warrior and I will be one of the greatest knights ever. You think I’m a child? Am I a child when you spread open my legs in bed, then? If I’m old enough for you to rape me then I’m old enough to decide I want to be a warrior, no matter what you or anybody else think about it.”

Renly smirked at that and answered back, “That what I meant when I said naïve. You are nearly a man and yet you indulge in childish dreams. Perhaps this is what is best for you, bending over to please me so that I’ll protect that fragile little body of yours from actual harm while you dream on about being a knight!”

Renly felt his face swing around as a loud sound came from somewhere. It took Renly a few moments to register the pain on his cheek before he realized that Loras must have slapped him. Loras looked close to tears now despite his earlier burst of anger and he stared at Renly with those intense eyes of his.

“Don’t mock me. Not after you’ve destroyed all my dreams and made me as low as a whore…just don’t”, Loras choked out before he turned away and walked back to Renly’s sleeping chambers. Rubbing his stinging cheek gently, Renly contemplated what he just unearthed. Loras had to be a noble, as only nobles could be a knight. He believed strongly in his ambition too, he may have trained even while he was back home.

Sighing to himself, Renly figured that he must have distraught the boy enough and decided to leave Loras alone to lick his wounds. Instead, he went back to the table to continue his work, promising to himself that he would make it up to Loras later.

When he was done with all his important work, Renly took a trip to the grand archives. The keeper looked bemused when he saw Renly there, as though he could not believe his eyes that the Master of Laws himself had come down to the dusty old archives. To be fair, people of Renly’s position hardly ever came looking for anything themselves, they always sent of servant to take care of such tedious tasks.

“Lord Renly”, the keeper greeted, “I must say I’m shocked to see you here.” Renly flashed the man a charming smile. “I’m looking for some stories for some light reading. Something about adventures and lore about great warriors, to be specific”, Renly told the keeper cheerfully as though it was a common thing.

The keeper looked confused but he obliged, pulling out a few dusty tomes and placing them on the table for Renly’s inspection. “These are very good and popular stories, milord. This tome here tells stories going back to the first men and the building of the wall even”, the keeper told Renly enthusiastically. Satisfied with the tomes, Renly choose three that had nice pictures in it and got a young serving boy to send them to his chambers.

Thanking the keeper, Renly excused himself from the archives and climbed the stairs to his chambers slowly, dreading the wrath of the curly haired boy in his chambers. Indeed, Renly could still feel a slight sting where Loras had slapped him earlier and he didn’t wish to be slapped again.

Upon entering his chambers, Renly squinted around looking for Loras. He let out a breath of relieve when he saw that Loras was peacefully asleep on his bed on the floor, gently clutching a pillow to him. Squatting down next to the boy, Renly started stroking the boy’s hair gently. Asleep, Loras looked cute and docile, his pink lips parted slightly and his curls all over the place.

He stirred quickly though and Renly pulled his hand back quickly, lest Loras decided to get angry again. “Mmm…what do you want?” Renly winced a little at the bite in Loras’ voice but he replied anyway, “I brought you some tomes. The archive keeper swears that they are full of good stories and they have nice pictures too.”

Renly promptly got up and grabbed the books from where they were on the bed. “You can read them when you are done with your chores. I’ll get more when you’re done with them so let me know when you’re finished reading them.”

Renly passed the books into Loras’ outstretched hands and left Loras to have a look. Renly busied himself by looking for a servant to draw a bath for him. It was near dinner time and he wanted to bath before dinner, he had to have dinner with Baelish this evening and he wished to be clean before having to endure the man’s annoying smirks.   

Renly watched Loras turning the pages and scrutinizing the tomes for a while before sitting down beside him. “How are they?” Renly asked tentatively, trying to gauge Loras’ mood. “They look nice. I thought you didn’t want me to linger on naïve, childish stories?” Loras asked quietly, his voice barely a whisper.

Renly cupped Loras’ face gently and turned it so that he was facing him. “I am sorry for what I said. I was hoping to anger you so that you would slip something about yourself. In hindsight, I hurt your feelings and slighted your ambitions. For all I know, you will be a great knight one day after you make your escape and reach back home.”

Loras gave him a sad smile and swatted Renly’s hand away. “I don’t think that would ever happen. How can a man who has been used like a whore ever get any respect? How can he be a warrior?” Renly was about to protest when Loras silenced him by placing a finger on his lips. “Please, my dreams are already gone. It’s nothing to do with you either, so don’t flatter yourself by thinking you had the pleasure of ruining my life by using me for sex. I did this to myself.”

Loras looked away then, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed. Renly suddenly felt pity for the boy so he just acted according to his instincts and held the boy’s hand. They sat in silence for what felt like a very long time until Loras suddenly broke the silence. “I did want to be a knight. My brothers are knights although my eldest brother is crippled now. I wanted to best my second brother so badly I trained every day.”

Renly gave a small smile at that. “I used to want to be like Robert too. Until I saw how fat he got and decided that I better not follow his footsteps”, Renly joked, earning a small smile from Loras. “It sounds like you came from a happy family. Were you brothers close?” Renly asked, hoping that Loras was finally in the mood to spill the beans.

Loras merely nodded. “I was closest to my little sister though. I imagine she’s been crying every day since I went missing. I have no doubt she refuses to believe I’m dead and is waiting for me to come back. That was me, I had two elder brothers and a little sister. My mother was sweet and loving and my father was overprotective of us. In hindsight, I guess he had good reason to be scared for his children. Look what happened to me.”

Loras looked so sad then that Renly could not bear to ask him another question about his family. There was one thing he was too curious about to let go off. “And how old are you? My guess is thirteen. Just when is your name day? I can’t give you a name day gift if I don’t know when it is”, Renly said in a mocked up cheerful tone, hoping to lift Loras’ mood a little.

“Thirteen is correct. I turn ten and four in two moons time”, he turned to Renly to give him a sad smile, “Don’t bother with a gift though. You can never give me the only thing I want in this world right now.”

Renly’s heart wrenched painfully at the expression on Loras’ face. He was about to say something when Loras stood up and grabbed a tome. “My sister always used to say that there’s no fun in being prim and proper all the time too you know. That we better enjoy life while we had no responsibilities or burdens on our shoulders. I guess she was right. I’m going to read in the solar now. Have a nice dinner, Lord Renly”, Loras said before he walked out of the room.

Renly was just sat there, startled, as he noticed that this was the first time that Loras ever called him by his actual name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what do you think Renly would do now that he knows that he's hurt Loras feelings? Comment and let me know what you think of this chapter :-D


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is the new chapter! Its a little angst filled with a side of Cersei's way of making you burn

Renly sighed heavily as he listened to Petyr Baelish laying down the facts to him while wearing that signature smirk of his. Already he could feel a throbbing in his head that was quickly threatening to turn into a massive headache. Littlefinger dropped his smirk however, his facial expression turning glacial in a matter of seconds.

“I know you hate listening to these matters, believe me when I say that I hate even more to be the Master of Coin and having to deal with Robert’s antics and bloody honorable Lord Stark at the other end. Between those two, I can’t find any solutions. You always seem to be able to charm your way out of trouble, so I thought you may have better luck than me with those two”, Littlefinger stated plainly, just a hint of anxiety in his voice that stressed just how serious the situation was. 

Apparently, Robert had managed to steadily spend the money in the Crown’s reserve with all his drinking and whoring. Instead of stopping when the crown was broke, he decided instead to borrow from the Lannisters, and when he decided that he still hadn’t had enough wasting of money, borrow from the Iron Bank of Braavos.

This has now resulted into a very major problem, the problem being that the Iron Bank was unwilling to give out any new loans if the once taken before that was not repaid. Robert was now very unhappy, as this would mean that there was no money to spend and without money, there was no wine and no whores to buy. Lord Stark was not making it any easier by arguing with Robert at every turn and trying to tell Littlefinger to not take any more loans, calling him a sleaze who was trying to cripple the kingdom by burying it in debt.

“What do you expect me to do? Nothing gets through Robert’s thick skull and Lord Stark will never open his eyes and see that his best friend is not as great as he seems, in fact Robert is the one single handedly destroying the damm kingdom. Robert made a fine soldier, but that’s all he is, a man who has far too much brawn but too little a brain to actually make rational decisions.”

Renly stared at Littlefinger, waiting for that smirk to come up while he spat some condescending reply about how he should be using his brain to solve the problem. Instead, Littlefinger remained as stoic as ever, just glaring back at Renly with a very serious expression on his face. Something was seriously wrong, Littlefinger didn’t come to him with just at random.

“What is it?” Renly asked, deciding to cut to the chase. Littlefinger sighed before he lifted his goblet and took a huge gulp of wine. “There has been rumors that something has happened at Highgarden. Something has happened that has caused an unrest, and Dorne isn’t too happy either. The war has always been like a complacent tug of war, both sides giving out minor attacks. Right now it seems that something has aggravated Lord Tyrell, there has been word of an army assembling even.”

Renly sat up straighter in his seat, giving his full attention now. This was something that he had not foreseen, never in a million years. “But The Reach is not known for great wars at all! They are the type to win through cunning and intelligence. The Dornish may be a little eager to kill us, but I don’t think that they would be so brazen as to orchestrate a full scale attack on King’s Landing”, Renly reasoned out.

He didn’t want a full scale war to break out, hundreds would die and their people were barely surviving as it was.

Littlefinger took another swig of his wine, gulping loudly. “Believe me, nobody wants this to be true. I am hoping that these are all rumors, but my sources insist that something is stirring at Highgarden. Apparently something so serious has happened that Lord Tyrell has been amassing his army in the last month and perhaps planning on attacking…” Littlefinger looked Renly directly in the eye, “…this is serious, Renly. If this rumor is true, it is imperative that we get that loan from the Iron Bank.”

Renly opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, wanting to say something but Littlefinger got there first. “The Tyrells are wealthy people, Renly and their land fertile. They may march on us with a months of food supply, the best equipment money can buy, maybe even hire the legendary assassins, the Faceless Men to reach into the castle and finish off whoever needs to be finished in order to win this war.”

“But what is it? Why now? What has happened that they are willing to risk a full on attack? I mean something so important could not have slipped us by?” Renly wondered aloud.

“I do not know. I am meeting with Lord Varys tomorrow, to discuss this very matter. Being the Master of Whisperers he should be able to garner some information. Even I am wondering how…an event that has led to Lord Tyrell taking such drastic measures has gone unnoticed. Unless…”

Renly raised an eyebrow, prompting Littlefinger to continue.

“Something personal has happened. Something within The Reach itself. Or maybe there was an attack of personal nature and they are thinking that we had done it and are preparing to retaliate. Maybe they are tired of this back and forth war. Maybe they have been amassing their strengths quietly all these years and have decided that now is the perfect time to spring a surprise attack.”

Renly dropped is gaze to the table, looking at the intricate embroidery of the tablecloth but not really looking at all. This was a serious matter they were in. if he were to tell Robert, that drunk fool would just march straight into battle with blood lust, not caring how many people died. He was a good soldier but that was all he was. He only knew how to fight and die in bravery, never to strategize and win smartly. Sheer determination may have won him the war against the Mad King, but he may not be so lucky twice. 

Renly polished off his dinner quickly and returned to his chambers anxiously. He was tired and he desperately needed a good night’s sleep before having to think up of a way to tackle this whole ‘No money-Impending war’ situation. He nodded to his guards and entered his chambers but stopped moving while he was closing the door halfway.

His chambers were dark and eerily silent.

“Loras? Loras, where are you?” Renly called out. He cursed when no reply came and immediately called for his guards. “How the hell did Loras disappear?” he hissed, frustration filling him. This day had been a though day to deal with from the very moment he woke up.

The guards looked as perplexed and shocked as Renly was feeling. “I don’t have a clue, Milord. We have been keeping a very close eye on that one, with all his previous attempts to escape…”one of the guards trailed off, looking a bit scared of what Renly was going to do to them given that they had failed in their task.

“Owh, don’t look at me like that!” Renly snapped. “I’m not going to have you executed just because Loras decided today was a fine day to attempt another escape. He warned me that he will die trying.” The guards visibly relaxed at that. “Anyways…” another guard spoke up, “…I think that he is hiding somewhere within the chambers. He could not have left this part of the keep, it’s all guarded.”

“Yeah, he could be waiting for us to panic and go search for him, leaving a clear way for him to run straight out. That kid is very cunning, I’ll give him that”, a third guard said and Renly nodded along.   

Quickly, they came up with an arrangement on how best to locate Loras. There will be one guard at each of the exits and the rest would scour the whole of Renly’s chambers and look at every corner where it was possible for a petite thirteen year old to hide.

They searched for hours and hours, Renly growing more and more worried with each passing second. They had looked all over the chambers twice, and nobody had seen Loras. Not even the maids or the cleaning ladies had seen him anywhere. 

Eventually Sansa and Arya joined the search party, followed by Tommen and most surprising of all, Jaime Lannister who was now looking at all the alcoves.

The search dragged on for hours until Sansa looked genuinely worried and Tommen was close to tears. Cersei had finally deemed to leave the royal chambers to see what the whole commotion was about and was now sitting in the corner of Renly’s solar with a frown on her face. “It’s impossible that he’s left this chambers. The guards would have seen him if he did. We’ve looked everywhere…are there any secret chambers that he could have discovered in the time he was stuck here?”

Jaime scoffed at that. “Dear sister, I would think that it’s not that easy to find a secret passage or chambers somewhere.”

Cersei raised her eyebrows, “Well…” she rearranged her hand in her laps daintily, “…given that the keep is heavily guarded, I’m sure he’d come to the conclusion that any chance of him escaping would means to be unseen. Meaning a secret passage nobody else knows about. Given that it was the Targaryens that resided here before, I would think he could very easily come to the conclusion that the current occupants, us, would not know of all the secret passageways in the castle. Add in the fact that he is stuck in here, alone, all day long, I’d say that he would have plenty of time to look for a secret passage and find it.”

Cersei smirked at Jaime and Renly, knowing that she’d made a solid point.

Tommen cleared his throat noisily at that before saying, “He’s not in a secret chamber…” everybody turned to look at him in surprise, “…I think he’s in your bedroom. What’s he one place that nobody bothered to look at?”

Renly, Jaime and Cersei looked at each another before looking at Tommen. “Uh, under my bed?” Renly guessed uncertainly. Tommen nodded earnestly at that. The idea of Loras hiding in a place so plain like under his bed was so ridiculous but logical at the same time that Renly felt like crying because he didn’t look there first.

“I mean, that’s where my cats normally hide when they’re afraid! Always under my bed’, Tommen continued excitedly while his mother just stared at him in shock. “you’ve all been thinking that he’s hiding and waiting to pounce to get some weapon of some sort to run but how if…if he was, I mean something scared him and he decided to hide?”

Jaime smacked his hand on his forehead and Renly could swear he heard him mutter “I’m such an idiot” to himself.

There was a pause for a second where they were all standing there like idiots before they all sprinted into Renly’s bedroom. When they peeked under the bed using the light of a candle, true enough a silhouette of a sleeping boy clutching a pillow tightly to his chest could be seen.

“Loras! LORAS!”

The boy woke with a start at Renly’s shouting, making him feel guilty. Renly hadn’t mean to shout, but he was anxious to know if Loras was alright. “Lord Renly?” a small voice croaked out. Licking his lips nervously, Renly tried calm himself down before saying, “It’s me. What are you doing down there? We’ve been looking all over for you.”

Loras didn’t answer and Renly could not guess what the boy was thinking at all, for he could not see Loras’ face in the darkness under his bed. “Come out here, would ya? Gave us quite the scare”, Jaime laughed as he reached out a hand to Loras.

A few moments passed before Loras crawled out slowly. He was covered in dust and cobwebs. “Ugh, you need a bath. I’ll get a maid to draw a bath for you”, Jaime said as he woke up and went to look for a servant somewhere.      

Renly just stared at the boy who was looking down at the carpet. “Would you look at me, Loras? Why the hell did you do that? Do you have any idea how worried we all were?” Loras didn’t reply but he clenched his fist tightly like he was holding something back.

“Well? What do you have to say for yourself? Hiding under the bed like some scared little kitten! Like a frightened little _girl._ ” Loras looked away, hiding his teary eyes away from Renly. Renly was not done, however and he was just about to yell when Cersei stopped him. “A word please, Renly.”

Renly let out a deep breath and followed Cersei out. “Leave us”, Cersei said simply and the guards bowed and left. “Just what on Earth do you think you’re doing?” Cersei asked as she crossed her arms.

“Well, he caused a huge chaos, didn’t he? With all the guards running around looking for him while he was hiding under the bed like a scared little child! Isn’t he too old to be attempting such nonsense anyway?” Renly argued, feeling perplexed as too why Cersei was displeased with the way he treated Loras earlier.

“Did you notice the state he was in? The fact that his eyes were puffy and red rimmed and he had snot all over his nose?” Cersei asked, her tone low but somehow managing to be judgmental. “He made everybody worried…” Renly started but Cersei cut him off. “You were just worried that he managed to escape and you’d lose your source of… pleasure.”

“I-I am no-not…” Cersei just put up her hand and Renly shut up immediately. Cersei looked Renly directly in the eye and said, “He was scared and he clearly cried himself to sleep under your bed, hiding from something. I thought you said you cared about him, that you would take care of him. Clearly when it comes to showing that you care about somebody, you Baratheon brothers are the same.”

With that, Cersei made her exit.

Renly just stood there, Cersei’s words ringing over and over again in his head. She had made her point very clear and Renly was feeling ashamed at the way he behaved. Loras was scared all the while Renly was worried that he had run away. Never did it even cross his mind that Loras may have been hurt and needing his help.

_Clearly when it comes to showing that you care about somebody, you Baratheon brothers are the same._

Renly had always taken pride in saying that he was unlike Robert and Stannis, that he was not a person who was so self-absorbed in his own misery that he forgot his duty to everyone else, neither was he so absorbed in his duty that nothing else mattered. He was not a person who was insensitive to other people’s feelings, that he was kind, considerate and tolerant.  

The truth was that he nearly treated Loras like a property, not a person. That the fact that he inconvenienced Renly was unimportant to the fact that he may be needing somebody to hear him out right now. He felt like a right jerk.

He returned to his bed with heavy shoulders, sitting at the corner while waiting for Loras who was currently taking his bath. After what felt like forever, Loras appeared from behind the screen where his bath tub was in a pair of fresh sleeping gown.

“I uh…I’ll clear the bath water…” Loras said slowly. “No. Come here”, Renly said gently and Loras glanced warily at him before slowly approaching him. When Loras was within his reach, Renly yanked his arm and embraced him. Loras stiffened at first, but he eventually relaxed into his arms, settling his head against Renly’s chest.

“What happened? What made you so upset earlier?” Renly whispered into Loras’ wet curls. Loras replied by settling himself on Renly’s lap. “Don’t wanna talk about it then?” Loras shook his head gently. “Its fine, it’s alright. Nobody’s going to harm you here. You’re under my protection”, Renly assured Loras as he ran his hands soothingly up and down Loras’ back.

“You can’t protect me from my own stupidity.”

Renly just sat there, unbelieving of what he just heard. Loras, the stubborn little boy who never admitted he was wrong just said that his own stupidity got him into trouble?  

“Its ok, we all make mistakes, it’s how we learn”, Renly decided to say in hopes of consoling the boy. His hopes shattered however when he noticed that his chest was getting wet with Loras’ tears. “What’s wrong? I’m sure whatever you did it’s not that bad! Whatever you screwed up, I’m sure we can fix it. We can get help if we need it, but I’m sure we can fix it”, Renly rushed out, trying to get Loras to stop crying.

Suddenly, in a blink of an eye, Loras was out of Renly’s arms and in the corner of the room with his back turned to Renly. “Some of us are not allowed mistakes, I’m sure you of all people would understand that. I did one tiny mistake, Lord Renly. I thought I could help, but instead I singlehandedly made everything so much more worse than before. You can’t fix the consequences of my mistakes. Nobody can help me fix it.”

Renly swallowed nervously, Loras was obviously in a very emotional state right now, and Renly didn’t want him dwelling on things like that. “But you have made the mistake. You can’t take it back now. No need getting yourself down about it, it will not help you come up with a solution, will it? Come sleep beside me tonight, rest and try to think of how to fix your problems tomorrow.”

Loras glanced back at Renly. “You think that it’s a small thing that I’m exaggerating, aren’t you? But I don’t blame you. You don’t even know who I am really. So you would never understand my problems”, Loras shot back. “I guess there is no point thinking about it anyway. I’m stuck and I have no way out. So I just have to live with it.” With that, Loras just plopped down onto his bed of fur, clearly ending to conversation to seek sleep.

Renly didn’t know what to say to that. It was true, Renly didn’t know who Loras actually was, could never imagine what implications would be involved with him making a big mistake. Renly drew in a deep breath. This was going to be where he stopped guessing. He was going to Varys himself tomorrow to seek help in this matter.

He was going to find out who Loras really was, whether the boy wanted him to know or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I newly got a Tumblr account, so if there is anything that you would like to ask me, my blog is http://purbleazaleya.tumblr.com/   
> If you want spoilers though, I'm not handing over any, so i'm sorry about that.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is so short, but I felt bad that I hadn't updated in ages and this is all I have.

Renly sighed in content as he closed his eyes and savored the moment. Loras was currently on his knees, Renly’s cock engulfed in his hot, wet mouth. Loras was apparently eager to please this morning, ignoring his gag reflex even though Renly could clearly see his eyes watering and the veins stood up in tension in his neck.

“Easy there, love”, Renly breathed out with a shaky voice as he laced his fingers through Loras’ hair to tug his head back a little. “Don’t choke yourself”, Renly gasped as Loras swirled his tongue on Renly’s angry red head.

“Oh, I’m perfectly fine, milord”, Loras smirked up at Renly. “It seems it’s you who is desperately gasping for air.”

Renly couldn’t believe the cheek of this boy. Even on his knees sucking Renly off he was exuding out haughtiness. _He really just doesn’t care, I really was right when I thought he was so much like a cat…_ Renly thought briefly.

Because what other animal was so infuriating, aloof and temperamental but still managed to look so utterly adorable and lovable?

Renly caressed the boy’s cheek gently. “Just finish off quickly. The servants will be in with breakfast soon.” Loras just looked directly into Renly’s eyes before taking him into his mouth again. By the gods, Renly swears that Loras’ pool of molten gold eyes are the most beautiful he had ever seen.

They were expressive and seem to glow with whatever emotion that Loras was currently experiencing. Right now he saw a glow in Loras’ eyes, little flecks of something burning within him. It was always only there for a moment before it was gone, but it had been there a few times, enough that Renly noticed that Loras had that look in his eyes when he looked at Renly sometimes.  

Something about that makes Renly’s heart flutter, but he actually can’t put a finger on what it is he sees. There was another thing bothering him, one that was gnawing away at his mind. After that incident where Loras pulled that stunt of hiding for hours, Renly noticed a gradual but disturbing change in his demeanor.

Loras was on edge, often Renly would catch him staring into space with a pained look on his face and sigh to himself wearily. Somehow, Renly got the feeling that Loras had overheard his conversation with Littlefinger and for some reason was extremely troubled by it.    

Alas, Renly’s mind became a muddled place where his thoughts tangled up and gave him a massive headache. His gut was giving him a really strong feeling that Loras knows something, something big and important but is extremely scared that somebody would discover whatever secret it was he was keeping.

Whenever Renly had been to see Varys or Littlefinger, Loras would seem nervous, even biting his nails until it bled the evening before. He would wait, no matter how late into the night and ambush Renly with questions the moment he stepped foot in through the doors to his chambers.

Just two days ago, Varys had come up to Renly’s chambers, seeking to talk to him in private in his solar. Loras attempted to eavesdrop, however he was caught by a guard patrolling around. Luckily, they had not gone into any important details as Varys was in his usual habit of tittering about some nonsense and being cryptic.

Nevertheless, when the guard pushed in a very red faced Loras, Renly couldn’t help but be perplexed as to why the boy would suddenly try and spy on him. Needless to say, Renly had locked Loras in his sleeping chambers while he and Varys took a stroll around the Red Keep to discuss some small council matter (the crown drowning in debt).

When he had returned to his chambers Renly was met with a very nervous looking Loras. Renly could feel Loras’ eyes on him, a prickling sensation at the back of his neck that told him he was being watched but the moment he turned to look, Loras would look down at the ground.

Eventually Renly lost it. “What in the god’s name is wrong with you today?” Renly asked suddenly, making Loras jump.

“I-I…you were talking to Lord Varys.”

Renly frowned at that. Loras’ voice was so small and he kept staring at the ground as though he wished that it would swallow him whole.

_Why was Loras so nervous about him meeting Varys? Why Varys in particular?_

It was only then the realization hit Renly like a ton of bricks. Varys was the spider, the master of whisperers. Loras had been spending enough time around gossipers like Sansa and his servants so there was a high probability that Loras knows who Varys is and what he does.

_He’s keeping something big. He has a secret and he’s afraid Varys had found out and told me…_

“Loras…” Renly began softly,”…is there something you want to tell me? Just what is bothering you?”

Loras had met Renly’s eyes for the first time that evening and that was when Renly first noticed that little glint of whatever it was hiding in Loras’ swirl of emotional eyes.

It was gone in a flash.

“Nothing is bothering me. Just so bored I keep getting edgy. At least eavesdropping was a little adventure of some sort, trying to see what was so important”, Loras answered quickly, his shoulders squared in a defensive stance.

Something unsettled Renly that evening, an unfurling fear in his stomach that whatever it was that Loras was withholding, it was not good.

And when it was out, a huge problem was coming his way. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to write faster and update more often, I swear. It's just that my degree coupled with my health problems are really putting me down nowadays. When i'm not admitted, i'm struggling to study by myself what I missed while admitted. Thank you so much for putting up with my late updates, I know it must get frustrating at times, and I sincerely apologize for that.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed it, comment and let me know if you want me to continue!


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